


Heart of the Heartless

by Reiven



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Ensemble Cast, First Kiss, Friendship, Gen, Good Theo Raeken, Hurt Liam Dunbar, Hurt Theo Raeken, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury, Pack Mom Melissa McCall, Scott McCall is a Good Alpha, Slow Burn, Thiam, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-01-03 18:53:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 84,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12152715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reiven/pseuds/Reiven
Summary: It started with Theo almost dying at the hands of his dead sister – over and over again. That should have been the end of it but Liam had to go and fall in love with the asshole somewhere along the way. Mix in a bit of Scott and Melissa being the best mother-son combo, some familiar old faces that would always be a sight for sore eyes, some familiar old faces that all of them could have done without, a little stabbing, a little poison and a fat wiener dog-beagle mix named Gertie and you have yourself a pretty eventful summer.





	1. It's Okay

At the end of the day, no one really knew when it happened, much less _how_ it happened. Obviously all of them only trusted Theo as far as they could throw him–though most of them could throw him pretty damn far, which didn’t really account for anything, but nevertheless, no one trusted him, no one even liked him all that much, but somehow, somewhere along the way, he’d begrudgingly become an indispensable part of the pack.

No one acknowledged him as part of the pack, especially not Stiles or Malia…or Mason or Lydia or—pretty much everyone _but_ Liam and to an extent, Scott—which didn’t account of _anything_ because Scott was Scott and Liam was the one who freed him from the hole in the first place. Everyone else was much smarter than that.

But they all reluctantly went along with it anyway. Every time he contributed to something of worth there would be at least one scoff and a disgusted cough sounding in the background; when his contribution to a plan ended up panning out and helping them defeat an antagonist or two, everyone would reluctantly offer their mumbled thanks and their derisive comments muttered under their breath. After everything he did to them in the past, it really was the best case scenario though.

If their offhanded insults and disguised mockery affected him in anyway, he didn’t let it show. He’d reply with a typical lopsided smirk and a cynical comment which would usually rile up at least one member of the pack, most of the time it was Malia, but at some point, even Malia’s blind hatred dulled down to a rather blunted point and the back and forth trading of insults turned to be more of a habit rather than out of actual hatred.

Eventually everyone pretty much came to accept his looming presence in the background and his biting sarcasm being throw at one person or another. No one was willing to admit it, but it became a rather comforting thing having Theo in wings as a backup or just having him there handing out his two-cents on supernatural subjects that he really had no business knowing. He always gave off the vibe that he knew more about things than he really let on, and having someone with that kind knowledge would always come in handy, so everyone pretty much forced themselves to tolerate his presence. It really was the least they could do after he helped them with the Ghost Riders and neutralizing the Anuk-Ite during the final boss battle the year prior.

But when life and death problems started becoming less...well, a matter of life and death; when trouble with murdering Argent patriarchs turned into headache inducing problems involving rogue omegas and beta werewolves that had lost their packs. When deadly mythical creatures hellbent on destruction of civilization became more of a problem of finding shelter for various supernatural beings that had come seeking out the only person they could count on to give them asylum: Scott McCall.

When everything was said and done, everyone assumed that Theo would be quick to pack it up and leave for somewhere more glamorous, where he didn’t have the ever critical eye of an Alpha and his entire pack and most of the Beacon Hill sheriff station always on him, always watching, just waiting for the minute he messed up, the second he’d step out of life, to pounce.

But he stayed; he hung around, popping up like a bad omen even when his help wasn’t really needed. Most of the time they’d find him over at Liam’s house or just hovering in the background no doubt conspiring something terrible while thinking up new and more creative insults to unleash on people. On occasion they would even catch him leaving the animal clinic. Deaton was never of any help when they asked what he was doing; he’d just smile his tight lipped smile that seemed to conceal more than what he let on. Eventually everyone just stopped asking, accepting his presence like a necessary evil. After all, it was as the saying went: ‘better the devil you know’, which was why the lack of Theo’s scathing commentary and his dark looming presence hovering in the background felt quite strange the first day he stopped showing up.

On the second day, someone actually made a comment about it, but it was brushed off almost as quickly as it came.

On the third day, everyone was rather reluctant to admit that they kind of missed having him around being his usual annoying self; Liam had said that he called to check up and Theo told him that he was going to be out of town for a couple of days.

On the fourth day, Scott actually said the word ‘worried’ when Liam mentioned that he hadn’t been able to get a hold of him again after the initial call.

And so that was how Liam, Mason and a reluctant Malia, acting as proxy for Scott, found themselves in Mason's car, using the GPS on Theo’s phone to try and track down his location.

Since it was something concerning Theo, Scott had wanted to come himself but he was busy preparing for his big move to college and was levels of panicked and stressed out that was rather unbefitting his status of Alpha of arguably the largest pack of supernatural beings in the known world.

“I’m not sure exactly why _I’m_ here though,” Malia said, as she’d been saying every five minutes for the entirely of the forty-five minutes they’ve been driving around, trying to track Theo down.

“You’re here because you’re Scott’s second-in-command,” Liam said earning him a scoff and an annoyed eye roll.

“I’m only Scott’s second-in-command whenever someone needs a reason to drag me somewhere I don’t want to go. _You’re_ Scott’s second-in-command; his stand-in Alpha, which brings me to my second question: _why. Am. I. Here?_ ” Malia reiterated pointedly, punctuating each word with a firm fist on the dashboard of Mason’s car.

They’d driven out the town limits at some point and were cruising down the small deserted road leading towards the vast woods that spread out into the horizon, following the faint flashing of the dot showing the location of Theo’s phone.

“I don’t know,” Liam nearly shouted from the backseat when Malia turned a glare on him. “Scott told me to bring you along,” he said, trying to sound nonchalant about it. He could feel the small skip in his heartbeat the moment the words left his lips, which was a big mistake. Malia immediately zeroed in on him with a piercing gaze.

“What aren’t you telling me?” she said, baring her teeth slightly and she turned fully to face him.

Mason was starting to look worriedly between Liam in the back and Malia in the passenger seat beside him, all while still keeping his eyes on the road and making sure they didn’t end up in some ditch somewhere. “Come on, guys, relax.”

“Liam!” Malia growled threateningly.

Liam was still not meeting her eyes, looking at everything in the car and then looking out the window to stare at the scenery rushing past. In his mind, nothing about his body language was suspicious in the slightest. “ _Nothing_!”

“Liam I swear to God don’t make me come back there, you’ll be dead long before Mason drives this car into a tree if you don’t tell me exactly what’s going on—”

“ _Okay, okay_ . Fine! I’ll tell you,” he said, finally looking up to meet Malia’s furious gaze. “Scott told me to bring you along cause…uh—cause…” the rumbling growl being emitted from Malia was unmistakable by that point, “—it was ‘cause you were stressing him out; _Scott_ —I mean uh, he said he needed five minutes to gather his thoughts and you telling him whether or not cutlery and an extra set of underwear is essential to pack up for college wasn’t helping.”

Liam tried not to visibly exhale after he finished. Malia was still glaring daggers at him but she hadn’t moved to lunge at him and rip him apart for what he said, which was a good sign.  

“Okay,” Malia said simply, turning back around to face the road; her entire demeanor completely calm and collected, not showing even a hint of the rage she was on the verge of not two seconds earlier.

“Okay?” Liam reiterated confusedly. “That’s it?”

Malia half turned to face him. “What do you mean ‘that’s it’? What did you expect me to do? I asked you a question and you answered; and it makes sense. Scott’s been really stressed out lately. It’s really unbecoming,” she said as-a-matter-of-factly.

“Uhhhh…you’re not mad?” Liam asked again.

“Do you want me to be mad?” she asked, narrowing her eyes slightly and allowing a growl to escape.

“No! No—No…nope, not at all. Carry on being not mad,” Liam said quickly, bringing his hands up in front of him as if in surrender.

“Guys,” Mason interrupts, pointing towards the GPS on the phone mounted on his dashboard; it was finally getting a solid reading and the blinking round dot was showing the position of Theo’s phone and hopefully Theo himself, somewhere in the middle of the forest, approximately ten minutes away from their position.

“What the hell is he doing out here?” Malia said, her brows furrowed and her lips downturned. “I swear Liam if he’s up to something, I’ll kill him and I’ll kill you too if you get in my way.”

“You won’t have to. If he’s really plotting something, I’ll kill him myself,” Liam said. His eyes focused intently on the blinking dot in front of his eyes.

There was absolutely no reason for Theo to be out there by himself in the middle of nowhere, thirty minutes drive away from civilization. unless he was up to something.

Liam couldn’t help the bitter feeling of disappointment that flared up in his gut at the thought. He really thought Theo had changed, that somehow he’d managed to save him, make him a better person. Everything he’d done had pointed to that fact; after Theo selflessly helped them with the Ghost Riders and the Anuk-Ite and the hunters, even when he had every opportunity to run and save himself. He’d stayed, and he’s stayed for Liam, that much was obvious. But could that all have been a ploy; an intricately thought up plan to get them to put their guard down _again_ while he conspired in the background without everyone’s suspicious eyes on him? If it really was the case, then Liam was going to make him regret the day he had forced them to destroy the sword. He was going to make Theo wish he was back in the hell hole with his sister tormenting him forever.

He was going to make Theo regret the day he had decided to betray them a second time.

But there was something in his heart; a gut feeling, his overtly naïve and stupid gut feeling that still wanted to believe that Theo wouldn’t do that. That he really had changed. That he really had come to consider them allies, maybe even friends, the way Liam had. A small part of his heart still believed that the good Theo; the one who had helped Scott with the cell when they trapped the Ghost Rider; the one who had thrown him in the elevator and taken on the hoard of Ghost Riders himself; the one who had saved his life over and over and helped him get over his fear; the one who had somehow became his anchor...he wanted to believe that that was the _real_ Theo, and not the monster that had killed Scott and almost torn their pack apart.

He wanted to believe in Theo.

So when his dark blue pickup suddenly appeared in their sight, having been parked haphazardly under a tree by the side of a creek, deep inside the forest, Liam didn’t wait for Mason to stop, he flung open the door, hearing but ignoring his surprised shout and the expletives being aimed his direction, and jumped out; landing in a crouch on the dusty dirt road.

His eyes immediately scanned the perimeter for any sign of a trap or even for any sign of Theo, but the area was silent—almost too silent.

Theo’s truck was parked right in the middle of a plot of dirt, under a giant tree with a massive branch extending out towards the creek; there was only one set of tires leading up to the parked truck which had been almost buried under dried, brown leaves and hidden by the smoothing of the sand from the drizzle of rain that fell the night before. It told Liam that Theo and parked his vehicle there for at least two days and hadn’t moved it since. There were no shoe prints leading to or from the truck, or anywhere within the five meter circumference of dirt surrounding it, meaning that no one had walked in or out of it since it was parked there however many days ago.

“I don’t like this.”

He heard Malia’s voice and felt her presence sidling up beside him. He could feel her wariness without even turning to look at her. Mason quickly stepped up on his left though none of them made a move to approach the vehicle.

He didn’t like it either. Something was terribly wrong, he could feel it, and somehow something inside him kind of wished it was just Theo plotting something terrible to get back at them in some way; the alternative to that…he just didn’t want to consider it.

With one look back at the growingly apprehensive Malia and Mason staring back at him with a concerned gaze, Liam exhaled once and cautiously made his way towards the truck. He could hear the sound of Mason following in his tracks and Malia bringing up the rear, all of them keeping a cautious eye out for anything even remotely suspicious, but everything was just still and silent and there was absolutely no sight of Theo. Liam could feel his own apprehension growing by the second.

He silently and carefully stepped up to the left side window, his heart thumping against his chest as he dared to peek in—

—and saw Theo sound asleep in the back seat.

He let out the unconscious breath he’d been holding, almost crumpling into himself, causing both Mason and Malia to voice out a confused and concerned, “What?”

“The asshole’s asleep in the backseat,” he said with an eye roll, fisting his hand before reaching up to rap his knuckles forcefully against the window, trying to rouse Theo out of his deep sleep.

“Must have gotten tired of getting kicked out of one too many parking lots in the middle of the night,” Mason said, though his voice held a bit of sympathy.

“What do you mean?” Liam asked, turning to face him.

“You don’t know?” Mason asked, surprised.

“If I knew I wouldn’t need to ask now would I?” Liam asked, his tone one of clear exasperation. He continued to pound on the window though Theo’s car must have been made of soundproof glass because the asshole didn’t even stir.

“He’s homeless. The dude lives in his truck,” Mason said as-a-matter-of-factly, staring at Liam as if it were information he should have already known.

“What?” Liam said as the same time as Malia.

“How did you guys not know?” Mason asked, though he wasn’t really expecting an answer.

“We’re not his babysitters,” Malia said.

“Well he is in your pack isn’t he?” Mason asked and Malia’s almost immediate answer of ‘hell no’ came out almost on instinct, “I thought you’d keep track of that stuff, especially when it concerns _Theo_.”

Liam and Malia shared a look. Malia’s expression was undecipherable but Liam felt guilty. He’d started to consider Theo as a friend but he hadn’t even given any thought to his life outside the pack and outside missions or even in regards to Theo himself when he wasn’t helping them with something or another. He just assumed that Theo did as Theo always does, just get by somehow. He never in a million years would have thought that he was actually homeless in every sense of the word.

Last he heard the Raekens had booked a one way flight out of Beacon Hills, headed towards god knows where. The Sheriff had tried to contact them after the very unfortunate incident in which they opened a portal to hell and watched as Theo’s sister dragged him down to the pits, but he couldn’t find them, no one could. They obviously saw their opportunity to flee and took it.

So outside the pack, Theo really did have nothing and no one and someone who considered himself a friend hadn’t even bothered to ask him if he was okay.

Liam turned back to the window without word. Theo hadn’t stirred even a fraction the whole time he’d been pounding on the glass and it told Liam that something was definitely not right.

“Theo!” he started calling out, using the side of his fist to pound hard on the window. “Theo! Wake up!”

He sensed Malia stepping up to the driver side window, peering in as he was doing before he mimicked him in pounding on the window, calling Theo’s name. Although instead of his actual name, she was using a wide variety of words that all meant the same part of the male anatomy.

He was so focused on Theo, and the sound of his fist on the side of the window that he didn’t hear Mason calling until the third time and he felt himself being unsuccessfully shoved aside by Mason’s average human strength. It shook him out of his reverie and he turned to look at his best friend, finding a disapproving and annoyed glare on him.

“Um, guys,” Mason said slowly, as if he were talking to a couple of two year olds before he reached for the chrome pull door handle on the side of the truck and with an easy tug, unhooked the mechanical latch, allowing the car door to swing open easily. He spared both Liam and Malia a deserved exasperated look but Liam vowed to thank (or apologize to) him later, he just needed to make sure Theo was okay, so he stepped into the backseat of the car immediately, sidling up beside the still sleeping Theo, half crouching between the seat and reaching a hand to grasp Theo’s shoulder to shake him.

“Theo!” he almost yelled, shaking Theo by the shoulder.

The entire back seat was a mess; a brown, stiff blanket Theo had pulled up to his chest and some of his clothes thrown haphazardly on the floor. Theo was dressed in a black shirt with the black hoodie he always seemed to have on lately.

“What’s wrong with him?”

He heard Malia’s question and the hint of concern in her voice but he couldn’t think to tear his gaze away.

Theo’s expression was peaceful, almost too much so. He was breathing and Liam could hear the sound of his heart beating, so that meant he wasn’t dead. He didn’t seem to be injured or sick. He really just seemed to be…asleep.

“Theo!” he yelled, almost a growl that time and his shaking turned more vigorous.

This time though, Theo’s eyes flew open; it was so sudden and unexpected it nearly startled Liam stumbling back on his ass, but he remained steadfast, calling Theo’s name in a much gentler tone this time.

Theo’s eyes were open, but his gaze was unfocused and bleary; like he was staring at a spot just over Liam’s shoulder instead of the person hovering over him in his line of sight.

“Theo?” Liam called again and this time, Theo’s gaze actually shifted to find his.

Liam got a sudden bad feeling in his gut in that instance, the moment Theo’s eyes found his. He could see hints of tears starting to pool in the corner of his eyes, his breath hitching in his chest when he opened his mouth to speak.

“It’s okay,” he said; his voice hoarse and gravelly, barely over a whisper. His breath hitched, a hint of a sob almost choking him. Liam opened his mouth to ask what was okay before Theo continued; the words sounding like they were being ripped from his throat. “You don’t have to stop.”

Liam didn’t even have time to think of a reply or a question to ask; he could feel the confusion radiating off of Malia and Mason both standing by the door. He vaguely heard Malia’s bewildered, “What did he say?” at Theo’s comment before his senses were completely assaulted by the sound of Theo’s agonized scream as his eyes clenched shut, and then the feel of warm blood seeping through his fingers.

**Tbc.**


	2. You Don't Have To Stop

One minute it was peaceful silence, almost to a terrifying degree, and in the next there was only the sound of Theo’s agony and the blood that all of a sudden started pouring freely from his chest.

It took Liam entirely by surprise, he jerked back so quickly he almost tumbled out of the truck.

Theo’s back was arched almost completely off the seat, his fist grasping at the front of his shirt; his eyes clenched tight and after the initial scream being ripped violently from his throat, there was no sound, only his mouth opened wide in a silent, agonized scream.

Liam was utterly helpless, in shock and fear, looking back to Malia and Mason and finding their eyes showing exactly the same multitude of emotions he was feeling on the inside; concern, dismay and confusion.

It seemed like an eternity watching Theo screaming silently, his fingernails digging into the skin of his chest and blood, continuing to trickle through his fingers and trailing down his arm and onto the seat, soaking everything wet with blood. In truth it lasted barely a minute before Theo slumped back onto the seat, unconscious.

The sudden stillness was jarring and no one knew what to do or how to react, but this time Liam managed to get his wits about him first, almost throwing himself over Theo, grabbing the collar of his shirt and ripping it clean in half, exposing his blood drenched chest to everyone and the five jagged puncture wounds still pouring blood over the area where his heart was situated.

Then all of sudden the skin around the wound shifted, melting slowly, knitting together from the inside out until the puncture wounds were barely silver marks on Theo’s pale chest. And then even more strangely, the blood that he’d been drenched in, that had saturated his clothes and been absorbed into the seat under him, it just… _disappeared_ , like it was never there.

“What the f—”

He heard the beginning of Mason’s gob smacked comment but spared it no thought as he reached over to grasp the side of Theo’s face. Compared to his almost serene expression earlier when Liam thought he was asleep, this time he was fully out cold. His brows were furrowed, knitted together in a restless slumber; his lips slightly parted and his breathing coming out pained and uneven, as if every breath was agony.

“Theo?” Liam called, tapping the side of his cheek lightly, not really expecting a reaction but unable to keep himself from feeling disappointed when he didn’t get one. “Guys, we need to get him—we need… _we need Scott_. We—he needs help!”

Mason without word ran back to his car; Malia having shaken off her own shock, reached in immediately, pulling off the blanket and the clothes on the seat and tossing them out of the way and leaned over to get a better grip on his legs. “I’ll grab his legs, you grab his shoulder. We’ll pull him out and carry him into Mason’s car—on three!” Malia instructed, “One—two—three!”

She dragged Theo across the length of the seat until he was half out of the door before she lifted his bottom half. Liam circled his arms around Theo’s chest, careful to steer clear of the silvery scars on his chest. They carried him easily to where Mason had moved his car closer and was standing by the side of the open backdoor for Liam and Malia to carry the unconscious Theo in.

Liam crawled in first, carrying Theo in after him and lowering him gently onto the smooth leather seat of Mason’s car, propping his head on his lap. He didn’t notice the sound of Malia slamming the door close after making sure Theo was safely inside. He didn’t hear the sound of Malia and Mason getting in or when Mason put the car in reverse, almost flooring the gas and peeling out of the small forest road, leaving a trail of billowing dust in their wake.

He didn’t hear or notice anything; he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Theo’s pale, slack face; his brows knitted together in pain; his chest heaving painfully and the occasional groan that would escape his lips.

“What the hell happened back there? The—the blood! I-it just _disappeared_! How?” he could hear the elevated pitch in Mason’s voice bordering on hysterical.

“How long has he been out there?”

Malia’s question struck a deeper chord in him and all of a sudden he couldn’t find his own breath. He was assaulted by the image of Theo screaming in agony; the sight of him writhing in pain and the very real possibility that he was suffering alone for four days and none of them had spared him a second thought until that afternoon.

“Liam?” He heard Malia’s voice calling his name, her tone uncharacteristically gentle considering the situation. “You okay?”

“Me?” he nearly scoffed. “ _I’m_ fine—Theo on the other hand _isn’t_. He hasn’t been okay for four days and none of us even bothered to check up on him. What kind of friends are we?”

No one answered and Malia just averted her gaze, turning around to look at her phone, scrolling through her list looking for Scott’s number.

“Where we gonna take him?” Mason asked, looking at Liam through the reflection in the rear view mirror.

Liam ran a nervous hand through his hair, scrubbing his face absentmindedly as his brain tried to come up with a plan, something— _anything_. Theo needed help, serious help and he didn’t know what to do.

“The hospital,” Malia said in his stead. “Take him to Melissa. We can figure out everything else from there.”

“Right,” Mason said, taking a breath as if to calm his own furiously beating heart. “That sounds like a plan.”

Liam didn’t answer, he was glad he didn’t need to think up a plan himself because he didn’t think he’d even be able to. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from Theo, looking at his _friend_ , remembering the suffering he saw in his expression and the agony in his scream and trying to place that with the fonder memory of the Theo he had in his head: his annoying smirk, his smart ass retort said after an exasperated eye-roll. It just didn’t line up. He couldn’t line it up.

“What did he say?” Malia asked, catching his attention and blessedly interrupting his dark thoughts. “Just before…just before he started screamed. He said something.”

Liam turned to meet her eyes, wracking his brain for the memory of Theo’s words. “He said…he said, ‘it’s okay, you don’t have to stop’.”

The change in Malia’s expression was apparent.

“Why?” it was Mason who asked the question Liam was thinking. “Does it mean something to you?”

“No…” Malia said, though she seemed to be concentrating hard on something. “I mean, yes—I mean…I don’t know—yes and no,” she said unhelpfully. “Just uh—in Scott’s house back then, with the Ghost Riders, when you first let him out of the hole. The first time we saw him again,” she said, “I attacked him; I punched him in the face over and over—which is less than what he actually deserved by the way—and he said something strange then…”

“What?” Liam’s attention was immediately piqued. “What did he say?”

Malia spared him a grave look when she turned her eyes to meet his. “He said… ‘ _it’s okay, you don’t have to stop’_. It meant nothing to me back then, but now—I don’t know, it seems like such an odd choice of words to say, especially at the time.”

Silence ensued as all three of them tried to wrap their mind around and figure out what the hell happened, or what was going on.

They made it to the hospital in nearly record time. Malia had sent Scott a text to meet them at the school and to bring along Deaton, because they were going to need all the help they could get to figure out if something else sinister was at work in regards to Theo and whether it was something more general that they had to be concerned with.

Melissa was waiting for them with a stretcher and Chris Argent’s grim presence standing beside her at one of the back entrances of the hospital.

They loaded Theo, who had not regained consciousness even once the whole time, onto the stretcher and carefully made their way towards one of the deserted floors of the hospital, away from prying eyes and listening ears; all to the tune of Argent grilling them from every scrap of information they had, which was a pathetically miniscule amount, much to his frustration.

“You said the wound just appeared and disappeared on his chest?” he asked for the umpteenth time, as he’d been asking the whole way up to the seventh floor.

“Not just the wound,” Malia said, exasperated. “The blood just…it just _vanished_. Like magic! Like something from Harry Potter.”

Argent was massaging the bridge of his nose when the door at the other end of the empty hallways suddenly swung open, revealing the concerned form of Scott bursting through, Lydia and Corey close on his heels; Deaton strutting in behind them at a slower yet still brusque pace.

“What happened?” Scott asked the moment he was in hearing distance.

“ _Magic_ , Scott; it was magic!” Malia said immediately.

“What?” the confusion was clear on Scott’s face when he reached them, his attention zeroing immediately on the unconscious Theo in the stretcher at the center of the group. “Are you sure this isn’t just some trick?” Scott asked, and Liam was too concerned to be insulted by even the insinuation.

Mason was fervently shaking his head in the back, not even verbalizing his answer as Corey walked up to him, taking his hand in a firm grasp.

“No, definitely not.” It was Malia who answered and Scott was visibly taken aback by the vehemence in her answer. Malia was always the first one to point out all and any of Theo’s flaws and failings, and to hear her being so steadfast on the subject concerning Theo, it was an obvious sign to Scott that something terrible was amiss.

“We need to get him into a room first and try and figure out what the hell happened,” Melissa said.

Ten minutes later, the still unconscious Theo was settled into one of the hospital beds; his ripped shirt removed and he lay on the crisp white hospital mattress in just his pants; everyone convened around his bed, staring at his still form as if trying to conjure up an answer from the only person who could give them any but who was also the only person completely lost to the world.

“So, let me get this straight,” Argent started, the prominent vein in his forehead becoming even more so in the last ten minutes they’d spent trying to explain what happened, or what bizarre thing they saw happened. “He just started bleeding from wounds that appeared out of thin air which then almost immediately disappeared back into thin air?”

“Yes!” Malia said with absolute conviction, not at all concerned about how absurd it truly sounded.

“And before it happened, he said _‘it’s okay you don’t have to stop’_ —which is something he once said to you when you were beating the crap out of him?”

“Yes, _exactly!_ Do you need a signed confession? We’ve explained this to you guys like ten times already,” Malia said.

“I know, but you have to admit that this all sounds…completely absurd,” Argent said.

“Hello, this is a town _filled_ with supernatural creatures, most of them right here in this room! But magically appearing and disappearing wounds is a concept that’s absurd to you?” Malia asked completely straight-faced, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well…yeah! It sounds completely and utterly mad!”

Liam could hear them bickering back and forth but he couldn’t be bothered to pay attention. His eyes were focused completely on Theo’s face. At one point he noticed that his slack face had relaxed somewhat, his brows weren’t knitted together severely and his mouth wasn’t twisted in a silent grimace. He looked…well, he looked serenely asleep, just like when he found him in the truck in the forest.

The debate was still raging on in the background which Liam paid to heed to. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder and finally managed to tear his eyes away from Theo to look at Melissa’s warm, smiling face leaning down beside him.

“How is he?” he found himself asking, the words feeling strange on his lips, like it’d been ages since he heard the sound of his own voice, but it hadn’t even been a full hour.

Melissa exhaled deliberately, which was never a good sign. “I’m no doctor, but Alan and I both agree that even from initial assessment we can tell that he’s _severely_ dehydrated; his heartbeat fluctuates between calm and panicked with absolutely no explanation as to why, not to mention that for all intents and purposes, he appears absolutely in perfect health.”

“What could cause this? He didn’t seem sick the last time I saw him,” Liam asked, his eyes wide and he could tell the moment nurse-Melissa disappeared and mom-Melissa made her entrance as she squeezed his shoulder gently, her eyes compassionate.

“Do you know of anything that happened in his past that could have caused this or triggered it somehow? Has he ever spoken about anything like this to you?”

Liam shook his head grimly. He realized in that moment that he didn’t really know anything about Theo outside the pack. At least, he didn’t know anything about this new reformed Theo that was always trying so hard to prove himself but kept getting his efforts shafted aside with an insult and an eye-roll.

He turned his attention back to Theo just in time to see his eyes crack open a fraction. His shocked gasp attracted Melissa’s attention as well though she reacted in a much more coherent manner; immediately reaching over Liam, her gentle hand cupping Theo by the side of his face and her voice tender when she called his name.

In that moment, the on-going debate was immediately halted and everyone turned to look at Theo now half-conscious on the bed.

“Theo,” Melissa called gently. “Theo, do you know where you are? Do you remember what happened?”

Scott was by Theo’s side in a heartbeat, across from Liam on the other side of the bed. Argent stepped up to the foot of the bed and looked on apprehensively at Theo who didn’t seem to notice any of the people standing in the room with him.

“Theo?” Scott called after sharing a look with his mom, reaching to grasp the other boy on the shoulder, but Theo didn’t seem to notice Scott by his side, much less the warm hand on his shoulder.

It wasn’t until Liam’s voice gently called his name did his gaze actually shift from staring blankly at the ceiling above his head to meeting Liam’s eyes staring back at him worriedly. “Theo, you with me man?”

Theo didn’t immediately answer, his gaze firmly locked onto the boy standing in front of him, unblinking. His chest heaving with every breath he inhaled. After a moment, he opened his mouth as if to speak and everyone in the room immediately leaned in to hear.

“I’m sorry,” Theo said, and Liam wasn’t sure whether he misheard, but Theo’s eyes were still locked onto his and he couldn’t find it in him to look away. “I’m so sorry,” he added.

“For what?” Liam asked, leaning down close. “Sorry for what, Theo? Tell me.”

But just as quickly as his eyes found his, his gaze became unfocused again; his half-lidded eyes bleary and damp, looking past Liam’s shoulder at something only he could see. “It’s okay,” he said again and Liam felt his heartbeat faltering in his chest. He could feel the look of horror coming onto his face when he tore his eyes away from Theo to look at Scott who stared back at him with a questioning look. He couldn’t even think of looking for the words to answer Scott’s unasked question. The moment the words, “You don’t have to stop,” left Theo’s lips, he clenched his eyes shut and a scream of sheer agony was ripped from raw from his throat. Everyone could only watch helplessly as Theo’s scream dissolved into a sob; his fists clenching the material of the sheet in a tight fist.

Their helplessness quickly turned to horror when right before their very eyes, five small jagged, circular wounds ripped through Theo’s chest, almost in a half circle, appearing out of thin air, or like it was tearing through him from the inside out. Blood started squirting freely out of the wound, almost in tune to the thumping of his heart and without the material of his shirt absorbing the liquid like before, it sprayed onto both Scott and Liam who were standing closest to him.

His screaming sob seemed to last forever, but like it had in the truck earlier when Liam, Mason and Malia first found him, it lasted barely a minute—exactly thirty seconds in fact, as Argent had pointed out even through the chaos. But it was still far too long watching a person writhing in agony and not being able to do anything about it.

The moment the thirty seconds were up, Theo immediately slumped back onto the bed, out cold and panting; the blood still flowing freely from the wound; now coagulated and almost black in colour. No one dared to move or even breathe; the whole room was plunged into stilted silence, everyone still staring in horror at the now unconscious Theo, and then at the wounds on his chest that had begun repairing itself. The moment the wounds disappeared, leaving behind an almost silvery sheen on the skin that would be forever marred, the blood that Theo was covered in, that had drenched both Scott and Liam as well, just faded away, leaving behind not a speck on anyone or anything. The white sheets were white once again and the sticky wet liquid Liam could taste on his tongue wasn’t there anymore. It was like it never even existed in the first place.

Then all of a sudden there was peace again, but unlike the fraction of a second before everything happened, the peace didn’t feel like it belonged in that room.

Everyone shared a horrified, unspoken look with each other that spoke volumes. Liam didn’t have to look at any of them to know what they were thinking, what they all, including himself, were thinking.

Theo was dying and healing himself in the same breath, over and over and over and over again, and he’d been suffering through it alone for god knows how long.

Theo was going to continue dying, and no one knew what to do.

**Tbc.**


	3. The Minutes Keep on Ticking By

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Usually I get to the (lovely, amazing, awesome, sweet) comments before I post the new chapter, but I've been super busy this week and just haven't gotten around to do so. Will definitely see to them in the next couple of days. Don't think I don't see them and/or don't appreciate the crap out of them, because I do SO MUCH ❤️❤️
> 
> Secondly, I started writing this story with the intention of it being purely platonic. But in light of the recent finale, I think inevitably this story will lean more towards the romance side; nothing explicit though, worry not, just all the fluff and cuddles we were denied by the show. It will still be mostly hurt/comfort though cause that’s just the way I roll.

Every hour, like clockwork—it had been four, not that Liam was keeping count but how could he not? — every hour Theo would get ripped apart by something that didn’t exist and then get put back together again; over and over, and he felt every single ounce of pain that came along with it, over and over again.

Four hours.

That was how many times Liam had had to sit back and listen to Theo’s scream of pain since they found him in his car; watching him cry out in agony, watching him writhing and suffering and not being able to do anything to help him or to ease his pain. He was his friend, or at least, that was what Liam thought; he’d been a really shitty friend to Theo on his part anyway.

Deaton, Argent, Malia and Lydia had left at some point to go and try to find whatever they could about what was causing this. Melissa drifted in and out every ten to fifteen minutes or so to check on Theo. She’d started him on an IV to help with the dehydration. The third time it happened, she tried giving him morphine to ease the pain, but his chimera metabolism burned through it the moment it entered his system and had been absolutely no use whatsoever. 

Scott hovered close by; alternating between pacing around the room nervously and sitting with his head in his hands in the far corner of the room, brooding. 

Liam knew Scott felt just as guilty as he did, perhaps even more so because he was the Alpha. Whether or not people acknowledged Theo as a member of his pack, it didn’t change the fact that at the core of it, he already was and because of that, he was automatically Scott’s responsibility. It was a fact that didn’t seem to have escaped Scott’s notice, and that was why he was obviously taking it to heart so hard.

Mason and Corey were somewhere in the hospital doing their own research; secretly going through the hospital files, hoping to find something that might be able to help them. At least, that was what Melissa told him. He really couldn’t find it in him to think of anyone else. None of them were dying an agonizing death every hour on the dot with no chance of relief and no chance of actual death; just being stuck in an eternal cycle of pain and suffering.

Liam turned his eyes back to look at Theo; in the back of his mind he was subconsciously counting down the clock. Every tick he could hear coming from the clock in the hallways was like the footstep of a grim reaper coming closer and closer and he couldn’t do anything to keep it at bay or ease Theo’s suffering. He was the one who released Theo from the hole; he’d taken responsibility for him when everyone else told him he couldn’t be trusted, that he’d stab them in the back and run. He was the first one who put his trust in Theo again, genuinely and without irony, and Theo had repaid him in spades.

And now Theo was suffering and there was nothing he could do to help him.

At the fifty-five minute mark, he sensed Melissa entering the room and Scott stepping up to Theo’s bedside, his face grim and his eyes downcast. The dark circles under his eyes prominent against his pale skin.

Melissa had changed Theo into a crisp white hospital gown and covered him to the chest with a light blue blanket.

Liam took absolutely no pleasure in the knowledge that he could tell the moment it was getting close; he could see it on Theo’s face. Instead of his expression being one of fear and pain, he actually looked peaceful and calm, like the universe was getting a huge kick out of what they were putting Theo through.

At the fifty-eight minute mark, Theo’s eyes opened, and his glazed, unfocused gaze found Liam’s, as he’d been doing repetitively since the first time Liam witnessed the horror of what was happening to him.

Once again, his lips parted, and the words, now barely coherent and hoarse from his throat getting more and more damaged from his screaming, came tumbling out. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I’m so sorry.”

And this time, unlike the last three times, Liam actually reacted; reaching over to grasp Theo’s hand tight in both of his; bringing their intertwined hands up close to his chest. “It’s okay, Theo,” he said, “It’s okay, I forgive you.”

This time… _ this time _ , Theo’s gaze actually found Liam’s and there was a spark of coherency and recognition in them for that split second. When he opened his mouth to speak, unlike all the times before, his words weren’t: “It’s okay, you don’t have to stop,” said in a pitiful, begging voice, heavy with emotion and thick with sobs.

This time…

This time he said, “Please…kill me…” before the scream was once again ripped from his throat.

This time—Liam cried with him.

Scott had to force himself to look away, but Liam kept his grip firm holding onto Theo’s hand. He held on even when Theo’s grip became too strong, even when he could feel the bones of his knuckles breaking from the pressure of Theo’s grip on his hand. He didn’t move, he didn’t react; he latched on even more firmly with both hands, simultaneously holding Theo down and anchoring him to the world; letting him know that he wasn’t alone, that someone was there; that Liam was there. He opened himself up on the inside; feeling the bright spot in his soul separating, as if making a path for something to ente. And then all of a sudden it hit him.

The thirty second were passing by slower and slower each time, but at the twenty second mark, Liam opened himself to Theo, latching onto some of Theo’s pain and dragging it into himself.

At the twenty-five second mark, his screams slowly died down and he finally stopped writhing, he finally stopped screaming in pain.

At the twenty-nine second mark, Theo was once again lost to the world.

It wasn’t huge progress, but it was progress nonetheless. Liam had managed to take Theo’s pain away for that one second. It wasn’t a monumental achievement, but it was a second that he could spare Theo’s pain and that was a good enough start for him.

He could feel the heat of Scott and Melissa’s gaze on him; undoubtedly both of them had noticed the same thing he had.

It wasn’t a huge achievement, but at least it was one.

He could feel the burning agony clawing through his insides, leaving a trail of fiery ash that latched onto his heart, holding it tight in a vice like grip.

It came to him like a bolt of lightning, sending him leaping to his feet, startling both Melissa and Scott out of their grim, silent thoughts.

“Liam?” Scott called, concern lacing his voice.

Liam opened his mouth to explain, but somehow he just couldn’t find the words. Theo was once again clean of the blood that had been soaking him just a moment ago and was once again lost in blissful unconsciousness, so after flailing around for a solid minute to Scott and Melissa’s growing confusion and concern, he instead reached over towards Theo’s chest, pulling down the front of the hospital gown and exposing the five silvery marks that still shone disconcertingly on his chest. He aligned the fingers of his right hand over each of the five markings, and lowered his hand down to touch the tips of his fingers against Theo’s burning skin.

His fingers and the marks on Theo’s chest aligned perfectly; like a clawed hand reaching into his chest, reaching for his heart and ripping it out of his body on repeat over and over again, exactly every hour down to the second.

He didn’t have to say any words, but the look on Scott and Melissa’s faces said it all.

“I’ll tell the others,” Melissa said quickly. “Scott, you and Liam stay, prepare for the next attack. Liam managed to take a bit of his pain away that time, maybe the combined effort between you two…” Melissa trailed off, expecting them to understand. Scott didn’t reply sans a small nod to his mother, but his eyes were sharp, his shoulders squared and the aura around him determined.

“I got this,” he said confidently.

Melissa spared both of them a small smile before turning on her heels and running out the door.

Liam sat back down on the chair Melissa had brought in for him, not once relinquishing the hold he had on Theo’s limp hand. It didn’t escape his notice the way Theo’s breathing was becoming progressively more laboured; his chest heaving painfully every time he took a breath. His skin was paper white, absolutely devoid of colour except for the bloody redness of his lips from where he’d bitten through them with his own teeth. The dark circles under his eyes were so apparent on his pale skin, it was like they’d been coloured with paint as if to drive home just how sick he really was. There were bloody, crescent indents in his palms from where his nails had dug into them because he’d been clenching his fist so tightly.

Theo was literally wasting away right before their very eyes, and Liam was afraid that if they didn’t find a way to help him soon, that there would be nothing left of Theo to save. That was a fact that was becoming more and more apparent with each passing minute. When Theo started coughing, Liam had to quell the bit of hope that started blossom inside him because not only did Theo remain unconscious, the new speckles of blood on his pillow and trickling down the side of his mouth didn’t come from him biting his lip. It wasn’t blood that magically disappeared after a few second like a bad hallucination. It was blood that that stained and trickled and saturated the pillowcase under his head. That signaled something even more terrible in the midst, if that was even possible.

He was coughing up blood. His lips were quickly losing their colour, taking on a blue tinge that sent Scott scrambling to find his mother and left Liam as a nervous mess looking between the gasping Theo in front of him and the door, trying to will Melissa’s presence into existence.

They needed to find a cure— _ something _ to help Theo, before the damage could become irreversible. 

Liam’s fear was that it was already too late.

** Tbc. **


	4. Time Running Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys! What on earth—you guys are _mad_. Mad _**AWESOME!**_ I am so blown away by the reaction and the sudden influx of hits and the most amazing comments a writer could ever even hope for and I am beyond flattered and happy and over the moon and just…absolutely flabbergasted, I have no words! So because you all have been BEYOND amazing to me and made my whole week in just like two days, here, have another terrible angst ridden chapter in which Theo suffers terribly and Liam can only look on in helpless worry ☺

Thirty minutes had passed since Theo’s last attack and there were thirty minutes to go before it would happen again. His health had been rapidly declining within the last twenty minutes or so and Liam’s biggest fear was that this time his body just wouldn’t be able to handle the trauma anymore. He’d almost been gasping for breath by the time Melissa rushed in with the ventilator and the oxygen mask.

And that was where they found themselves when Mason and Corey walked dejectedly back into the room. Liam spared them a brief look, but at Mason’s frown and the small shake of his head, he turned back to look at Theo; watching almost hypnotically at the way the mask would fog up when he exhaled. His grip on Theo’s hand was firm and steadfast; he hadn’t let go even once since the moment he latched on.

“Anything?” he heard Scott ask, and Mason’s disheartened reply of, “Nothing,” almost immediately after.

He felt a hand on his shoulder but couldn’t bring himself to look away this time. There were twenty-eight minutes to go.

Instead Corey’s soft voice reached his ear without waiting for an acknowledgement.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” he answered curtly. He didn’t mean to sound so dismissive, but he just couldn’t muster up the energy to be civil. He want to go out and hit something—someone. Whoever did this or whatever was responsible for what Theo was going through. He wanted to shift and run through the forest and tear through the greenery and slash his claws through the first thing that crossed his path.

He wanted to rage, but Theo needed him there. He’d left Theo to suffer alone for days and he wasn’t going to let that happen again. He wasn’t going to leave Theo’s side again.

Twenty-six minutes to go.

“This isn’t your fault.” It’s Mason, once again the voice of reason and once again talking about shit he didn’t understand. How could he know? He wasn’t there. None of them were there for Theo when he needed them the most. Not Mason, not Scott, not Corey or Lydia or Malia.

 _Not Liam_.

Liam was supposed to be his friend and he let him down.

“I let him out of the hole,” he said without turning around. “I forced his hand. I made him help us and he did. He helped _me_. But I wasn’t there to help him when he needed me the most. What kind of friend does that make me?” He asked, trying not to let his voice shake.

“A human one,” Scott said, “A flawed one; a friend who makes mistakes, not because he doesn’t care—but because he’s just human.”

“I’m not human,” he said with a bitter laugh.

“You are. I am—Theo is. At the core, we’re all still just human.”

Scott was talking sense but Liam just wasn’t in the headspace to hear any of it. There were twenty-two minutes to go and each second that passed felt like a stab in his gut.

Everyone started talking again after that but Liam couldn’t concentrate to listen to what they were saying, at least until he heard Corey’s surprised exclamation of _‘what?’_ after something Scott said. That caught Liam’s attention though he didn’t need to turn around to find out what it was that shocked Corey that much because the other boy stepped up to Theo’s side on the opposite side of the bed.

“You said this right?” Corey asked, motioning to the silvery marks on Theo’s chest.

Scott stepped up behind him and nodded grimly. Though Corey didn’t turn to look at him, he obviously took the silence as an affirmative.

“What’s going on?” he found himself asking, straightening up though he didn’t relinquish his grip on Theo’s hand. It was the most animated he’d felt in a while.

“Show me,” Corey said, staring at him intently. At the blank look on Liam’s face, Corey sighed. “Show me what you showed Scott, what you figured out earlier.”

It took Liam slightly longer than usual to figure out what Corey meant, but the moment he did, he reached over to place his five fingers aligned on the silver marks on Theo’s chest. “Why?” he asked, confused.

Corey rubbed at his head absentmindedly; the look on his face was indecipherable.

“Corey?” Mason asked, stepping up beside Liam, addressing his boyfriend concernedly.

Corey’s mind seemed to be going a mile a minute in that moment. A look that Liam didn’t dare to label ‘hopeful’ actually flashed across his face at one point.

“What is it?” Scott asked.

“His sister,” Corey blurted out suddenly, like the culmination of everything running through his mind at that moment could only be explained with two words that didn’t seem to mean anything. “Theo has his sister’s heart,” he explained again. Liam vaguely remembered something about that because Lydia had seen it in one of her visions, but that memory had ended up getting buried under the mountain of other information he’d obtained since then. “The Dread Doctors harvested his sister’s heart and transplanted it into him. I—I don’t know the exact story, but Theo might have been responsible for her death, so…so what if this this somehow related?” Corey asked, finally looking around at Scott and Mason and finally locking gazes with Liam. “It’s like something… _clawing_ at his chest—or his _heart_. What if…what if the Dread Doctors did something—something _supernatural_ back then that’s only been triggered now for whatever reason?”

Liam tried not to get hopes up, but Corey’s words made sense. At least even more sense than anything anyone else had come up over the last couple of hours. Malia had called earlier and was still insistent that they try to find a wizard of some sort. The Doctors did enjoy experimenting with things no one had ever even thought up or could ever even imagine before.

The silence in the room told Liam that everyone present was thinking pretty much the same thing as him.

He tried not to get his hopes up too high, but there was only fifteen minutes to go. Liam was willing to believe in unicorns that farted glitter dust and pots of gold at the end of the rainbow if it was something that could help Theo.

“I’ll call Deaton,” Mason announced as he fished his phone out of his pocket and turned to walk out into the hall.

“Good job, Corey,” Scott said, a small almost happy spark in his voice when he clapped Corey on proudly on the back and Corey responded with a small sheepish smile of his own.

“Corey,” Liam found himself calling out. When Corey turned to look at him, he managed to dredge up a small smile and a grateful, “Thanks.”

The moment of levity didn’t last long however because Theo started to stir all of a sudden. At first it wasn’t anything noticeable; the furrow of his brows and the creasing of his forehead. But Liam felt the pressure of Theo’s hand grasping onto his and immediately turned his attention to him, just in time to catch his eyes opening.

“Theo?” Liam called just as Scott stepped around Corey to come to stand close to Theo’s side.

“Theo,” Scott repeated in the gentlest tone Liam’s ever heard him use to call Theo’s name. He noticed Scott reaching for Theo’s hand lying limp on the mattress at his side, grasping in firm in his own. “Theo, you with us?”

Despite both Liam and Scott calling his name, Theo didn't seem to be aware of their presence. His eyes were open but his gaze was faraway and unfocused.

There were still eleven minutes to go. Something wasn’t right.

“Theo?” Liam tried again, freeing his left arm to reach over to grasp Theo’s shoulder, trying to get his attention or at least to alert him to their presence, since the vocal announcements didn’t seem to be working at all.

Theo’s eyes were half lidded, as if he couldn’t even muster up the energy to open them fully. His breathing was shallow even with the assistance of the ventilator. He was deteriorating too fast for any of them to fix, even if they could find a way to help him, to cure him. Liam didn’t know whether the toll it had taken on Theo’s body and his mind was already too great. It had taken a great toll on him and he wasn’t even the one suffering through it every hour.

Liam’s body moved on its own, leaning down low; he relinquished the grip he had on Theo’s hand to circle it around his shoulders, pulling him into a hug; half burrowing his face in the crook of Theo’s neck as he tried not to let his voice shake when he said, “It’s okay, Theo. We’re all here.”

“ _Li…am…_ ” he heard his name being said; the voice hoarse and painful, barely a whisper, but it was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard. He pulled back slightly without letting go. Just enough so that he would be able to look at Theo’s face.

Theo’s eyes found his almost immediately.

“I’m sorry Theo,” he said before anything else. “I’m so sorry.”

Theo didn’t answer, but he didn’t look away and his eyes didn’t glaze over with incoherency. He met Liam’s gaze and he kept it and Liam didn’t need him to do anything else.

There were eight minutes to go and Liam was terrified that Theo wouldn’t survive it this time.

“Theo?” It was Scott again and this time Theo actually shifted his gaze to look at him. “Theo, I’m sorry, but I need to ask; do you know what’s causing this? Do you know what’s happening or why? We want to help you, but we don’t know where to start. _Please_.”

Theo was looking straight at Scott but there was no indication that he understood a word he said, or if it was even Scott he was looking at. There were five minutes to go and the reaper was inching ever closer.

Almost like clockwork, Melissa stepped back into the room; her face grave and tired, her hair in a dishevelled ponytail behind her head. She quickly noticed Theo awake and made her way swiftly to his side, nudging Liam back slightly, taking his place on Theo’s right and reaching for the hand Liam had let go before he reluctantly stepped aside to make room for her.

“It’s okay,” she said immediately, running her fingers through his hair; gently as only a mother could.

Liam only stood back and watched. He watched Theo turn his eyes to look at Melissa, not really meeting her gaze but he seemed to be aware of the person leaning over him. He watched the kindness on Melissa’s face and gentleness in her words and in the way she reached over to stroke his hair back from his forehead.

For a second, Liam forgot that he was staring at a mother who was looking at a person who killed her son. That she was showing such kindness and concern towards someone who had caused her so much pain. But he realized that perhaps in that moment, it didn’t matter to her, as it had stopped mattering to him. What he did didn’t matter, all the bad things he caused didn’t matter, the only thing that mattered in that moment was all the good things he’d done since. The only thing that mattered was the fact that she was staring at a young boy, a boy the same age as her son, going through indescribable pain and terror and he had no one else there for him besides her and besides Liam and Scott and the pack. The only thing that mattered was that Theo had no one but himself to depend on.

“You’re going to be okay, Theo,” she said in what Stiles liked to call her stern mama bear voice, “You hear? We’re going to find a way to help you. You’re going to be fine. Just…just hang on, okay?”

Theo kept her gaze for a moment before he shifted his eyes to stare blankly at the ceiling, his eyelids drooping every so often and he would keep forcing them back open.

It was hard for Liam and all of them seeing the unflappable, perpetually annoying smart-ass Theo looking so…lost and so young; forcing them to realize that despite what he did, it didn’t change the fact that he was a young kid that had been manipulated and used by the Dread Doctors; turned into the monster he became by forces beyond his control. It was likely that the darkness had always lived within him to an extent, the rage always bubbling inside him just beneath the surface—Liam could relate; but what the Dread Doctors did to him multiplied it by several folds. Even now with the Doctors themselves vanquished and the world freed from their evil, Theo was still not beyond their reach and they continue to torment him in ways one couldn’t even begin to imagine.

There was a minute left and Liam began counting down the seconds in his mind.

Theo didn’t find his gaze again. He didn’t turn to him to apologize again for something he’d already paid for with his agony. His face wasn’t twisted with pain and his muscles weren’t taut with apprehension and fear. His brows weren’t furrowed and his teeth weren’t bared in a pained grimace.

His skin was chalk white, with droplets of sweat beading at his forehead, but he looked almost…resigned, as if he’d just accepted his fate and wasn’t willing to put up a fight anymore. That was the scariest part of all.

Six seconds…five…four…three…two…

Theo didn’t scream this time.

His eyes clenched shut tight; his mouth open in a scream but no sound came out except for the ragged breath he exhaled like he’d been punched through the chest.

Liam threw himself forward and grabbed Theo’s hand abruptly out of Melissa’s grip and closed his eyes. He cleared his mind. He tried not to think about Theo’s pain or the eyes of everyone around him looking at him. He focused on the bright spot in his soul again, reaching for it, caressing it lightly and beckoning it to open; to let in the pitch black darkness that was the agony raging through Theo’s body. He could feel the rancid, ill feeling of the black matter slowly making its way towards him, leaving a trail of scorching black residue behind him.

After what seemed to be an eternity, when he finally opened his eyes, his gaze immediately locked onto the panting figure of Scott standing slightly hunched over across from him; black vein trailing up his arms and the side of his neck, similar to the veins that creeped up Liam’s own arms.

On the bed between them, Theo was still; his breath was coming out ragged and a terrifying wheezing sound escaping every once in a while. His eyes though, they were still bleary and glazed over, slightly moist with unshed tears but he was conscious and he wasn’t in pain. He didn’t notice both his hands being clenched tightly in Liam and Scott’s grip. He didn’t seem to notice much, if anything at all.

“Theo, you with us?” Liam managed to say, surprising himself more than others by the fact that he managed to actually say anything.

“Hey, Theo?” Scott said, bending down slightly over the bed and leaning on an arm propped up on the mattress beside Theo’s head, his other hand still clenching Theo’s limp hand tightly.

Theo didn’t seem to hear his words, any of their words. He didn’t seem to notice Scott hovering over him or Liam still close by his side.  His eyes were darting from the ceiling to different points in the room at random, looking at something none of them could see, or rather, looking at something that didn’t exist. His eyelids widening and drooping in rapid succession and his lips parted slightly under the plastic mask covering the lower half of his face.

When he stilled all of a sudden, everyone held their breath, but nothing happened. Theo didn’t do anything, he didn’t say anything and he didn’t look at anything. He swallowed once with difficulty and blinked, sending a single tear drop trickling down the side of his face, splashing onto the pillow under his head.

And then his eyes closed.

And they didn’t open again.

**Tbc.**


	5. A Death - But Then Not Really

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are all crazy I swear. Just...HOW are you so awesome and amazing to me? I switched on the laptop and loaded ao3 the next day and then I had to go sit down cause I was just so overwhelmed. Not just by the amount of hits and comments and kudos, but just how _amazing_ the comments all were; the fact that you read my story and liked it so much that you took the time to write all that to me~ I was just a puddle on the floor by the end, and you did that for me for _days_ like...it's too much love guys! Too much love ~~I'm lying, keep it all coming! It fuels my soul and my spirit and my Theo whumping heart~~
> 
> This is the chapter where everything comes to ahead. I would just like to say for the record that I thought up the injury and the dramatic bit first before I even realized I needed to have an explanation and cure for it all. So...if the resolution turns out a little strange or maybe slightly underwhelming, pretend I'm taking a page out of Jeff Davis's book in that aspect and just extend me the chance to make up for it with...well, with everything else that will happen after this.
> 
> Also for the second record that will hence forth be made public: I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH I am _literally_ running out of words to express it

Theo was in a coma.

At least that’s what Melissa said. That’s what Liam heard her say anyway; whatever that meant.

A coma? A coma was what people slipped into when they were seriously hurt or seriously ill. _Old people_. Not young guys like Theo. Not werewolves or chimeras or any one of their friends or family.

Liam didn’t even know how she knew that; Theo didn’t seem any different than when he’d been unconscious in between the attacks before. His eyes were closed, his breathing was shallow and he just _wasn’t there_. But Melissa had said all the medical jargon that went completely over his head: something about his pupils not reacting to light and a coma scale or something—Liam had stopped listening half way through. It didn’t matter anyway, knowing or not knowing that part wasn’t going to help Theo at all.

Theo was just fine a few days ago. He came around to hang with Liam and they played video games until the sun went down. Now he was in a coma? Dying? It just wasn’t fair. After everything he’d done to make up for his past grievances. After everything he did to prove himself to Scott and Liam and the pack. After everything he did to try and make amends to the people he hurt.

It wasn’t fair that this was the hand he was being dealt; that this was the way he was going out, without a chance to fight or to even defend himself.

It just wasn’t fair, and Liam felt more than a little responsible for everything that was happening.

If he hadn’t freed Theo, if he’d left him down in the hole to rot, maybe he wouldn’t have been in this predicament. Maybe he wouldn’t have had to go through all that suffering.

But then, his consciences piped up, bringing words of wisdom that Liam didn’t even want: what if he _had_ left him down there in the hole with his dead sister? What if nothing changed, except that he’d be suffering through it alone in hell with the spirit of his dead sister tormenting him for eternity?

In comparison to that terrible fate, at least with them, he still stood a chance, no matter how bleak his fate was starting to appear with each passing second, Liam’s hope withering away with every ticking of the clock and every frustrated growl that escaped Scott’s lips.

It was so close to the one hour mark already and none of them were prepared for what could happen this time. Argent had returned alone about ten minutes ago without Deaton, Malia or Lydia and without any news. He and Melissa were standing outside the door conversing in hushed whispers and occasionally throwing worried glances in Theo’s direction. Liam wasn’t look at them, but he noticed. Scott was pacing up and down as he’d been doing for the last twenty minutes or so and Mason and Corey were sitting together on the floor in the far corner, their hands intertwined and their foreheads resting against each other’s.

Liam was still sitting at Theo’s side, holding his hand tight still trying to take away pain that wasn’t even there. It was pointless. _He_ was pointless. He just wanted something to punch, an enemy or another werewolf; give him a crack at the Dread Doctors or a Ghost Rider or hell, he’d take on the Anuk-Ite for a second round if it could help Theo. All of a sudden he understood how Scott felt when one of them was in danger, when he couldn’t do anything to protect them from harm. It was easy being a Beta to a leader who cared as much as Scott. No matter what, he knew that he’d always have Scott and Stiles and Malia and Lydia and the whole pack there to back him up.

Somewhere along the way, Theo became an indispensable part of that pack too. His relationship with Theo was different than the one he had with Scott, Malia and Lydia, who he looked up to and revered in a way. It was different than the friendship he had with Mason and Corey, even though they were capable of protecting themselves if it came down to it, he could never quite get rid of the instinct to protect them anyway.

But with Theo it was different; he didn’t look up to Theo, he didn’t look down on Theo and he didn’t feel a need to protect him either. It always felt like he was on a more equal footing with him. Liam was the hothead and Theo was the pain in the ass, but he was also the more level-headed one, so somehow their relationship just seemed to work. Theo could rile him up and calm him down in the same breath which was something not even Scott could do all of the time. Mainly with Theo, it was because both of them knew that he fully understood the feeling of having a darkness on the inside that always needed to be reined in, that always needed to be kept in check.

Theo knew, as Liam did, that had Liam met him instead of Scott when he was first turned, he might have turned out to be an entirely different person. But seeing Theo working so hard to rid himself of the darkness, to make up for all the terrible things he did, it gave Liam hope that the darkness wasn’t all that powerful; that it was possible to say no to it and to keep to that promise.

Theo showed him that, because Liam gave him a chance. That was one of the things that always stuck in his mind. Theo was there because of Liam. Everything good or bad that happened to him from the moment he was released from the hole was because of Liam. It was something that really sobered him in a way; realizing that he was all of a sudden burdened with the reality of having another person’s well being as his responsibility. It was a weird feeling, but not a terrible one.

What _was_ terrible was seeing Theo suffering so much and not being able to do a damn thing to help him.

The repetitive beeping sound of the heart monitor was almost soothing to Liam’s progressively fraying nerves; it calmed him somewhat, if nothing else, because it assured him that Theo was still alive, that his heart was still beating, as slow and waning as it was.

Melissa had hooked him up to it when she told them that he’d slipped into a coma, that there was a chance that he wouldn’t be conscious for the next attack. She also said her tone grave and her eyes sad, that this last attack may be the last one his body would be able to endure.

Liam tried not to think about it but it was the only thing his brain was focusing on.

It had only been a few hours, not even half a day that they had been sitting there helpless, watching Theo slowly slipping away, but he’d been suffering through it for so much longer and the mere thought of it chilled Liam to his core.

There were ten minutes left, and he could only hope that they wouldn’t be Theo’s last ten minutes alive.

No one came bearing good news; the hope that had blossomed after Corey’s revelation had been quickly crushed. Chris Argent came back with slightly more grey hairs in his beard and nothing more. Lydia and Malia were still away, as was Deaton and none of them had called back or sent news that was even remotely good. Corey and Mason were sitting together, forehead to forehead as in in prayer, but it was pointless. Even the perpetually optimistic Scott was looking more and more down with each passing second and Liam, who always seemed to subconsciously mirror Scott’s emotions but on a more heightened scale, was at a much lower point emotionally.

Time was running out and no one knew what to do. Theo was going to die horribly and none of them could do anything but sit by and watch hopelessly.

There were seven minutes left.

Liam gripped Theo’s hand tighter in his own, running his thumb unconsciously against the back of Theo’s knuckles. Scott was on the phone trying to call someone, but hearing the sound of his uncharacteristic cursing, Liam could only guess that no one was picking up.

There were five minutes left.

Liam could feel Mason and Corey sidling up beside him but he didn’t move or acknowledge their presence. He heard Melissa walking in, her footsteps light; he could sense the aura of sadness almost radiating off her and the salty smell of the tears in her eyes.

There were three minutes left.

Scott stepped up to the vacant spot on Theo’s left, taking Theo’s hand in his and latching on tightly. For a group of people who only months ago sent Theo plunging into the depths of hell for eternity, they’d quickly found a large amount of compassion and care for him over such a short period of time, but then again, none of them would have wished Theo’s horrific fate on their worst enemy. Not even Gerard.

Everyone sidled up by Theo’s bedside, the atmosphere in the whole room was grave.

There was one minute left.

Liam prayed.

Theo didn’t scream this time. He didn’t react visibly at all. His eyes remained shut and his expression remained lax. But the beeping of the heart monitor jumped suddenly and the green line that had kept a steady rhythm for the last sixty minutes went erratic without warning.

No one moved, no one breathed.

Liam was afraid to look but at the same time, he couldn’t look away.

Theo was going to die and this time, there would be no coming back from it. His body had fought to the last breath and in the end, it just couldn’t hold out any longer.

Liam felt himself pitching forward, circling his arms around Theo’s shoulders and latching onto him in a tight embrace, feeling Theo’s head lolling limply against his cheek.

“I’m sorry Theo,” he said, feeling the warm prickle of tears springing to his eyes and he grabbed onto Theo tighter. “I’m sorry—please don’t die.” He could feel the warmth of Theo’s blood soaking into the side of his shirt, but he knew that it wouldn’t be there anymore by the time he pulled away.

The whole room was silent except for the erratic beeping of the monitor, though Liam could hear the sound of Melissa’s muffled sobs somewhere in the back.

Eventually, the beeping sound slowly died away; it settled down and evened out, slower and slower and slower until there was barely a rhythm.

Until there was no rhythm at all.

And then the room was overwhelmed by the sound of one single, unbroken beep that didn’t seem like it would ever end.

Liam felt Theo’s chest rise once and finally fall with one single long exhale, and it didn’t move again.

Liam sobbed. Scott cursed. Mason and Corey latched onto each other and held on like they never wanted to let go again. Melissa cried into Chris Argent’s chest.

But the single beeping sound continued without pause.

It was over. At the fifteenth second mark of the thirty seconds that had become their curse, Theo finally succumbed to his terrible ordeal and slipped away silently.

The seventeenth second mark was punctuated by a single echoing roar that rattled the windows and shook the ground beneath their feet.

Liam and Scott reacted to it immediately.

A second, even louder roar came at the nineteenth second mark dragging along the sound of heeled boots scuffing the linoleum of the hospital floor before Malia all of sudden appeared at the door, skidding into sight, almost falling, her eyes shining like gems and her fangs bared.

Without words or second glances at the people in the room, she used the momentum of her speed to leap forward, pulling something out of a small pouch she had slung across her shoulder; she elbowed Scott out of the way, not leaving room for even a thought to flash through anyone’s mind; skidding to a halt beside Theo, her hand brandishing a large syringe filled with a swirling light blue, almost shimmering liquid held high above her head.

At the twenty-fifth second mark, she brought it down hard on Theo’s chest, plunging the needle dead center of his heart, injecting the entire content of the syringe into Theo’s body.

At the twenty-sixth second mark, Malia finally inhaled a lungful of air, pulling the needle out of Theo’s chest and stepping back exhaustedly, half falling into Scott’s awaiting arms.

Twenty-seven seconds… twenty-eight seconds… twenty-nine seconds passed without incident.

And then—

And then Theo’s eyes suddenly flew open, wide; his pupils dilated and his eyes glowing an almost luminescent gold.

His nails turned to claws and his mouth opened under the oxygen mask showing two rows full of fangs.

And then he roared.

The sound was half out of agony and half a deep, animalistic bellow that shattered the thin plastic oxygen mask covering half of his face and cracked the glass of the window at the far end of the room.

No one, perhaps with the exception of Malia, was expecting that to happen. Liam found himself stumbling back in surprise and almost tripping over the chair that had been his home base for the last seven hours or so. Everyone in the room was stunned silent by the sight; Theo’s roar eventually died down and he slumped back down onto the mattress, unmoving.

The stillness remained for a long while as they all just took in the sweet sound of the beeping that had once again resumed and the slow and steady rise and fall of Theo’s chest, this time moving without assistance.

“What the hell?” It was Scott that spoke the first words, and it was the most appropriate subject matter spoken in the most appropriate shocked, confused and slightly terrified tone of voice.

Malia inhaled and exhaled deeply, pushing past Scott and flopping unceremoniously down onto the seat in the far end of the room; her limbs splayed and her head resting on the wall behind her back.

“Deaton will explain,” she said simply, closing her eyes.

“Did you run the whole way up here?” Melissa asked, pushing away from Argent’s chest and wiping the tear that had trickled down her cheek.

“It wasn’t too far,” Malia said, still gulping down mouthfuls of oxygen, “Only seven floors,” she added. “The elevators were taking too long.”

As if on cue, Deaton and Lydia both rush into the room without a word, painting. Deaton in the forefront, his expression a mixture of tiredness and apprehension as he asked; “Did it work?”

Almost simultaneously, all attention turned towards the still figure of Theo in the bed. His chest was still rising and falling with each breath though his expression remained lax, but at least he was alive.

Liam thought he imagined it, but it even seemed like some colour had actually returned to his face. The shadows under his eyes were less prominent and his skin looked less chalk white, and back to his more regular shade of white.

“What happened? What did you do? What… Wh— _How_?” It was Scott once again saying the words everyone present was thinking, but in a slightly _more_ coherent manner.

Deaton bent down slightly to rest his hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. “I am definitely getting too old for this sort of strenuous physical activity,” he said with a small grin as he pushed himself up. “It was the combined effort of all of you that helped Lydia, Malia and I figure it out. I could get into the details but that would take far too much time and be far too redundant in the grand scheme of things,” he said as he stepped up to the foot of the bed, reaching out to place a hand on Theo’s ankle, patting it softly. “Essentially, what it comes down to was the Dread Doctors had installed something of a fail-safe when they transplanted the heart into Theo, which became activated due to whatever reason. Perhaps it had been as a safeguard in case he ever turned on them, or perhaps because they were just a bunch of sadistic monsters, we may never know.

“Basically, they injected him with a some rare, mutated form of Wolf’s Bane mixed with mountain ash—which perhaps contributed to the chimera’s immunity to the substance— and another suspicious thing we discovered during our research: Datura Stramonium, also known as Jimsonweed. It’s some sort of hallucinogenic plant, usually found throughout North and South America. And as I said, the combination of these substances somehow lay dormant inside him for however long, until they were activated—I suspect, when you banished him to that hole. Perhaps it was something in this realm that kept the poisons from affecting him, and until I know exactly when this started happening, I’m afraid I have no answers for you on that front.”

“But none of that explains how this all happened though, or about the blood,” Scott interjected.

“Actually, it does, Scott. I was just getting to that fact. As I said, it was the combined effort of everyone in this room who lead to the cure being found. What Liam said about whatever it was, clawing at his chest, and Corey’s information about his sister and the heart, and it was Mason who brought up the idea of checking his truck where we discovered traces of Jimsonweed on his blanket, as well as the remnants of dried blood all over the backseat. It meant that the first time it happened, the blood was real, not a hallucination.”

That revelation brought up a wave of murmurs. “What do you mean hallucination? Theo was hallucinating his sister, right? And what she was doing to him.”

“Theo, yes; he was the one affected by the plant the most because it was inside him. He was hallucinating his sister ripping his heart out of his chest over and over again; that’s what the plant does, it’s a very potent and very dangerous deliriant. Unbeknownst to all of us, we had all fallen under its spell too; when the wounds opened on Theo’s chest—the wound themselves on the other hand were very, very real—it released the pollen from the plant into the air, affecting everyone within his immediate vicinity.”

“Hang on,” Argent stepped up, his hand raised in questioning disbelief. “You mean that we were _all_ hallucinating seeing the blood?”

“Well, too put it simply: _yes_ ,” Deaton said as-a-matter-of-factly.

“I… I still don’t get it,” Melissa said.

“There is very little to get, I don’t quite understand it completely myself. But, basically, when the mountain ash and the Wolf’s Bane were activated, it ate through the surrounding tissue inside Theo’s chest, essentially, trying to burrow its way out. I don’t know if the Dread Doctors planned exactly what would happen, or it was just their sadism in leaving the terror to unfold itself; but when the combination of the Wolf’s Bane and the mountain ash ripped through Theo’s chest the first time, no doubt he bled a lot, which is what we discovered when we checked his truck; releasing the Jimsonweed into the air and affecting Theo for the very first time. His chimera DNA healed the wounds, but the wounds kept getting burned through and healed again and again; I think, because it comes at the same spot every single time, the surrounding area had perhaps scabbed over, which explains the lack of actual blood when it happened.

“It was Lydia’s idea to _use_ the same strain of Wolf’s Bane and mountain ash as an anti-venom of sorts; that perhaps it would just cancel each other out. It was an extremely long shot and with a success rate of perhaps one in a billion, but it was the only chance we had and we took it and luckily for us and Theo, our last minute play actually succeeded. Malia ran it all the way up here.”

By the time Deaton finished, the room was plunged into silence once again, but this time, it was one of painful relief despite the very apparent confusion still hanging thick in the air. At the end of the day, it didn’t really matter, Theo was alive.

“So is it over? Will it finally stop happening to him?” Liam asked.

Deaton exhaled heavily. “The truth is… I don’t know. All I have is hope and trust in our research and discovery, but the fact still stands: this is all still untested. I guess all we can do is wait and see and hope that everything we did wasn’t in vain.”

It wasn’t the answer Liam wanted, but it was the best one he could have probably asked for. The most important thing was that Theo was alive, everything else they could find a way to deal with.

A glance at Theo told Liam nothing; his eyes were still closed and he was still completely lost to the world.

But somehow, his face looked less gaunt and translucent; the dark circles under his eyes weren’t as prominent and his breathing seemed better, easier and less painful than it was just ten minutes ago. That alone showed progress to Liam, but as Deaton had said, the only thing they could do was hope.

And for the first time it what felt like an eternity, Liam didn’t try to quell the hope that started bubbling up in his chest, if anything, he almost embraced it with open arms.

**Tbc.**


	6. Recuperating or Something Like It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys continue to astound and flatter me to the extreme every single time, honestly. I'm running out of words to say, praises to rain on your awesomeness and actual things to reply to the wonderful comments that keeps coming - though feel free to keep them coming and I will pay you in frequent updates, more Theo angst and perhaps even some Thiam goodness, hmmm.
> 
> Also, to TrashWrites my goddess, I wanted to reply to your comments before I updated, but then I got distracted by Cody's prettiness, his smartness and his all round perfection and what I wanted to do ended up not coming to pass. I'll definitely get to it tomorrow after I've done all my boring irl adulting stuff. Don't think I've forgotten you ~❤️
> 
> And to everyone else who's reading, has left kudos or taken the time to write a comment that I will cherish forever, stay awesome! ❤️

Two days.

That was how long it had been without Theo having an attack. That was how long had passed without them having to sit back and listen to the sound of his agonized scream and not be able to do anything to help him. That was how long everyone had been sitting camped out in the hospital room on that deserted hospital floor, coming and going almost like clockwork—everyone _but_ Liam.

Liam hadn’t left the room in two days. What change of clothes he had someone had brought for him. What food he ate someone had brought for him. What concern his parents had were relayed to him by someone who had made excuses for his absence on his behalf.

 _Two days_.

That was how long Theo had been unconscious. The broken oxygen mask had been replaced with a thin tube that went into his nostrils. Melissa didn’t think he needed it anymore but it was just as a precaution at that point.

Liam couldn’t blame him though, after what he’d been through. Theo obviously hadn’t slept for days before that, being woken up out of sleep or unconsciousness every hour on the dot to get ripped apart by an unseen force. If it had been Liam he would probably sleep for a week, everyone else be damned.

But it did little to ease Liam’s worry. Theo was alive, but the question was: _how alive_? Was there even anything left of Theo in there that would have wanted to stay alive? Were they actually helping him by bringing him back that last time, or did they just cause even more damage when death would have been the kindest option?

The worst thing was that no one knew and no one could know until Theo woke up.

Even Scott, who prior to everything happening was up to his nose, busy with preparation for college, was around more often than not. He’d only leave for a few hours to settle some important business, but then would be right back there with them, hovering close and pacing the floor like the act would somehow contribute to Theo’s healing.

Melissa had told him that he didn’t have to be around because she was there and she’d call him if anything changed. Argent who was still left in great unease by Deaton’s explanation was also hanging around close, as if he wasn’t a hundred percent sure that things were really okay. Liam suspected that he wasn’t a hundred percent certain that it would be the same Theo coming back, if he came back at all.

But Scott had been insistent, saying that he needed to make sure himself and that sitting around at home packing by himself wouldn’t help his unease at all.

No one advised Liam to go home and relax; they didn’t tell him to leave or to go get some fresh air and unwind. They knew it would have been futile either way; Liam wasn’t leaving until Theo was back on his feet so that he could punch the asshole in the face for worrying them like that.

In a way, everyone acknowledged that both Scott and Liam had different reasons to want to stay, but both of them were rooted in the same one explanation: _guilt_.

Sending Theo into that hole and subsequently releasing him from it was what triggered what the Dread Doctors did to him. In that way, both Liam and Scott were equally responsible. Well, technically Kira was, but it was for Scott and the pack’s sake and despite his personal feelings about Theo, Scott was still Scott, or Bleeding-Heart McCall as Peter had once called him.

Liam didn’t really want to think about bleeding hearts at the moment though.

Two days, twelve hours and fourteen minutes.

That was how long it had been since he last saw Theo’s eyes open or heard his voice, and truth be told, Liam missed it. He missed Theo’s smart-ass comments and his cynical statements and the way he always knew exactly the right buttons to push to rile Liam up (and calm him down the very next minute). Sometimes Liam wondered whether Theo knew him better than he was really letting on, and he never actually made a secret of what he thought or how he felt. But there was just something in his eyes, something that drew Liam in and he always found himself unable to truly look away; the intensity in Theo’s gaze and the emotion he could convey too well with just his eyes. It was a fact that was both captivating and frustrating beyond words. Theo was the completely opposite of Scott and Liam; what you saw with Scott and Liam was usually exactly what you got. Scott was too good a person to be true sometimes and Liam had a temper and he made no secret of it.

But Theo was the kind of person that always seemed like even his secrets had secrets, even if he made himself seem like just a simple person on the surface.

Nevertheless, Liam wasn’t sure whether he wanted to hug him or punch him in his face when he woke up.

 _If_ he woke up.

It was a sobering thought.

He didn’t feel the twitch of the fingers in his hand until he did when Theo reflexively tried to pull his hand out of Liam’s grasp. That woke him up completely and he moved to stand, leaning over Theo immediately.

“Theo?” he called out cautiously, as if trying out the name.

Scott who had been outside the door talking with Argent immediately rushed in, telling the older man to go get his mother.

“Is he waking up?” Scott asked as he approached.

Liam could only shrug. “I don’t know. His fingers twitched just now.”

As if on cue, a groan escaped Theo’s lips in the same instant his eyes cracked open a fraction.

“Hey, man,” Scott said, leaning down slightly into Theo’s line of sight. “You with us, Theo?”

Theo’s eyes closed again suddenly without acknowledging Scott’s words. Liam could see his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down when he swallowed, but his eyes then opened again in the next instant, this time they seemed much clearer and in the moment than they had been in days.

Theo didn’t reply, but he suddenly shifted, moving his body towards Liam, trying to get his elbow under him as if to sit up. Liam and Scott immediately moved to stop him, but instead of sitting up, Theo just half rolled onto his side, propping himself weakly on his elbow, half leaning into Liam’s arms, his face staring down the edge of the mattress to the floor—and all of a sudden he vomited. Spewing chunks of black bile spattered with bits of coagulated blood all down Liam’s side and onto the white linoleum floor below.

Liam didn’t have time to react but he couldn’t have anyway because Theo was still leaning heavily against him. He didn’t notice Melissa rushing in until she was by his side peeling Theo out of his arms into her own; half circling an arm around his front, propping him up against her chest as he continue to purge the poison from his body, the other hand massaging his back, rubbing comforting circles with her open palm.

“It’s alright now,” she said soothingly into his ear.

Liam had stepped aside, still feeling the disgusting consistency of the bile running down his side and squishing under his feet in his shoe but he didn’t even think of stepping out to change.

Theo was still purging the poison from his body; the sound of his retching heaves was mixed together with half sobs and painful hacking coughs.

Melissa was getting drenched by vomit but she didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. Her face was the epitome of calm and collect and her voice was soft and soothing as she continued to whisper into Theo’s ear. Only once did she turn to Scott still staring horrified at the sight and instructed him to call Deaton and tell him what happened.

It seemed like ages until Theo’s purging finally ceased, but by the time it did the bile was clear instead of the terrible, goopy black stuff that had come spewing out of his body in buckets. By the end Theo’s whole body was trembling because of the strain and tears were trickling down his cheek nonstop, his eyes were open but staring at nothing; just gazing at an empty spot somewhere behind Melissa’s back. His chest was heaving and his hand was clutching onto the material of her scrubs like his life depended on it.

“You’re alright now,” Melissa continued to say, never ceasing massaging Theo’s back comfortingly and patting him gently between the middle of his shoulder blades like a mother would do to her sick child.

Theo had almost completely collapsed into Melissa by that point; his forehead leaning against her shoulder like he no longer had the strength to hold his own head up. The hand not clutching onto Melissa like a lifeline was limp on his lap.

“Liam.” Hearing Melissa’s voice calling his name immediately snapped Liam out of his thoughts. “Would you go into the supplies closet at the end of the hall, find a clean bucket, fill it up with water, get some clean cloths and bring it here?”

He didn’t even think of replying before rushing out to get what Melissa had asked for.

By the time he returned, Melissa had lowered Theo back down onto the bed. She’d adjusted the pillows and the height of the mattress so he was more sitting up than lying down when Liam walked back into the room. Theo’s eyes were closed, but his measured breathing and the tense furrow of his brows told Liam that he was still conscious.

He stepped back after handing everything to Melissa, moving aside to allow Melissa room to work and just stood back. He watched as she gently started cleaning the vomit, as well as the black goo from Theo’s chin, the side of his mouth and cheek and the bits that had splattered onto the hospital gown he had on. The bed and the white linen covering it had surprisingly made it out of the incident mostly unscathed, as the majority of the vomit had been diverted first by Liam’s, then Melissa’s body straight onto the floor.

“How is he?” he asked, stepping up to the side of the bed Scott had vacated.

Melissa exhaled loudly. “Well…I’m not well versed in areas of the supernatural type illnesses but I assume all this—” she motioned to the stuff covering her, Liam and the floor with a wave of a hand, “—this… _ick_ , is better being on the outside than on the inside. Therefore in my non-professional opinion I’d say…better? Maybe,” she said unsurely with a shrug of the shoulders.

Theo chose that exact moment to open his eyes again; he didn’t react to the sight of Liam standing over him or Melissa perched on the mattress beside him, though his eyes followed Melissa’s hand as she reached up to wipe the last remnants of the purged poison from his chin.

“Welcome back,” she said with a wide smile when she finished, sitting back more comfortably and looking at Theo who was still staring at her strangely. “How do you feel? Do you know where you are?” she asked, more out of habit rather than expecting an actual answer. When Theo didn’t react, she continued with a more serious tone. “Do you remember me, Theo? Do you know who I am?” Her grin was almost completely gone from her face.

Liam held his breath as he watched the interaction. Slowly, like having an intense weight slowly being lifted off his shoulders, Liam felt himself exhaling in relief when Theo gave a small, barely noticeable nod. He licked his lips and opened his mouth as if to speak but only exhaled once without making a sound though he reached up to his face to tug the nasal cannula from his nose. Melissa didn’t stop him, only reaching over to grab it from his hand and placing it off to the side, slung over one of the machines.

Theo closed his eyes again and leaned back against the pillow, seemingly exhausted and he didn’t open them for a long while, though Liam could tell that he wasn’t asleep. It was just like he needed to switch off the real world for a moment and Liam really couldn’t blame him.

When Scott returned with Deaton and Argent in tow, Melissa grabbed Liam by the hand, not giving him a choice in the matter before dragging him out of the room, into the hallways that he hadn’t seen in days; down towards the deserted nurses station and pushed him towards the bathroom with a simple instruction; “Shower,” with a finger pointed in the direction of the bathroom.

Liam obliged wordlessly.

He hated to admit it but the feel of the cool water running down his body was almost heavenly; like taking a nice ice bath after an intense practice. He couldn’t concentrate on Lacrosse then, even though the memory flashed through his mind. He kind of missed the coach; the guy was an obnoxious pain in the ass but he was good for a laugh, especially when Stiles was concerned. And on a more serious note, he was the only one who came to Liam’s aid when Nolan and Gabe were beating him up.

Actually, he really did miss the coach. He missed Stiles, he missed school, he missed Lacrosse; he missed old Theo who could do little to nothing to get completely under his skin. He missed the days when the only thing about Theo that concerned him was what an insufferable smart-ass he was. He missed the simpler time in his life when the one thing that was sure to make him feel better about anything was punching Theo in his smug face.

He’d take an eternity of staring at Theo’s smug face instead of seeing a single more minute of the pained, resigned helplessness that had been his default expression for days. Liam tried to look on the bright side, like Scott, because Theo had come a long way from where he was two days ago: dying— _dead_. He earned the right to wallow for however long he felt like he needed to.

He heard Melissa returning, calling his name to let him know that she’d left a change of clothes for him by the door.

He didn’t know how long he was in that shower just letting the rain of water cascade down his body without care, until he couldn’t force himself to forget anymore and thoughts of Theo and images of him in pain and alone started assaulting his mind once again. He dragged himself out of the shower almost immediately.

Melissa was waiting for him when he walked out; she’d showered as well judging from the dampness of her hair and the distinct lack of yuck anywhere on her person. They trudged together slowly back towards Theo’s room, though if Liam had any say in it he would have run, but he owed it to Melissa to keep in-step with her.

Theo was half curled into himself on his side facing away from Deaton who had taken Liam’s spot on his right. Scott was standing at the foot of the bed looking worriedly between Theo and Deaton, who was in the process of explaining something to Theo. Theo in return didn’t seem at all interested in what he had to say judging from the faraway, glazed look in his eyes and the way he was staring unblinking at the far corner of the room. Argent was nowhere in sight.

At Melissa’s soft call, Deaton turned to look at her and with a dejected sigh, walked over to them, Scott shooting one last look at Theo’s back before he followed suit.

“How is he?” Liam asked immediately when they stepped out.

“Well…physically he seems okay, as okay as he can be expected anyway to be, considering what he’d been through. But emotionally and mentally…I don’t know,” he said with a sigh. “He’s very withdrawn and seemingly depressed. He wouldn’t answer any of my questions or even make eye contact the whole time I was there. It could be—and this is a massive what if scenario—it could be that he’s still stuck, perhaps. His mind hasn’t fully grasped the fact that this is real and not a hallucination. I honestly think that he doesn’t yet fully believe that any of this is real, as sad as that sounds. However, this is one area I have absolutely no clue how to even begin broaching.”

Liam stopped listening then, not because he wasn’t interested but because he’d heard everything he needed to hear. Without a word, he stepped around Deaton and made his way back into the room, but instead of resuming his original seat, he reached for the chair and dragged it over to the other side, settling in right in Theo’s line of sight.

Theo didn’t make eye contact with him even once through the whole thing, but honestly Liam wasn’t expecting it anyway.

“I’ll be right here,” he said, “If you need anything. You’re not alone going through this, not now not ever again. You’re safe now. Your sister and the Dread Doctors can’t hurt you ever again.”

Theo’s answer was only a weak blink; he didn’t turn to look at Liam at any point, but it was okay, Theo needed assurance that Liam was there more than Liam needed assurance that Theo knew he was. The way he seemed to visibly relax, as miniscule the action was, and the way the tension in his shoulders seemed less taut showed Liam that perhaps he did and that was enough.

They had reached the lowest of rock bottoms. The only way left to go from that point was up, no matter how far or how difficult the journey was going to be, Liam vowed to be there every step of the way.

Liam had never been the most observant person, but he could feel the heat of Theo’s eyes on him when he looked away. He forced himself not to give in to the urge to meet his gaze. Perhaps Theo needed that extra bit of reassurance that Liam truly was there and Liam was willing to afford him that comfort. It was the least he could do.

**Tbc.**


	7. A Real Realization of Reality

Theo had started eating and drinking again, albeit slowly and in small amounts, but at least he was finally getting some protein into his body. He still didn’t engage with people outside a few stilted _yes_ and _no’s_ to basic questions. He didn’t make eye contact even once when Liam was looking, most of the time his eyes would only find Liam when he was looking away or facing someone else in conversation. Melissa encouraged him to speak to Theo, but the truth was he just didn’t know what to say.

He’d never been good with words, he always spoke better with his fists than with his mouth and that’s why his antagonistic friendship with Theo worked out so well, because both of them spoke the same language: the language of violence. But this Theo was not only speaking an entirely different language, it was also a completely unrecognizable dialect and not even on the same human wave length and Liam couldn’t even imagine where to start.

“You need anything?” Liam asked.

The only sign that Theo even heard the question was the barely there shake of the head he gave in response. His eyes stayed glued to the ceiling, staring blankly at nothing. His gaze was lifeless, his mouth downturned and his expression vacant.

Theo was no longer suffering the way he had been for those first couple of days, first alone, then in the company of Liam, Scott and their pack, but to say that he was okay would have been a massive lie. Theo wasn’t okay at all. He barely moved or made eye contact with anyone, much less interacted with the people that passed through constantly.

The closest he came to physically reacting to someone was when Malia reached out to grasp his shoulder in a move that was only out of benign comfort, but Theo had flinched back as if burned, his eyes wide a fearful and Malia immediately retracted her hand and stepped away.

Malia still came by more often than not, but she’d only get as far as the door and stopped without stepping in.

Liam was never able to really read Malia’s expressions even on a good day, he thought it had to do with her living nearly half her life as a coyote in the forest, and even though she came across as the most open person in the room, the truth was that she was actually the most guarded. It was always a case of ‘what you see is what you get’ with Malia and she was never one to shy away from telling a person what she really thought and how she really felt, but at the same time there was always a part of her that she never let anyone see; a part that she kept locked up tight.

In that moment, watching Malia watch Theo from the precipice of the door without him even realizing her gaze was on him, Liam saw a mix of emotions flashing through her face almost at once: anger, disappointment, helplessness and perhaps even a hint of sadness, though Malia would probably deny that last bit with her dying breath, especially because it was concerning Theo.

Malia was worried about Theo, that much was certain. No matter what she said or what she outwardly expressed, Malia and Theo had a connection that she never had with anyone else in the pack, not Stiles or even Scott, and that irritated her as much as anything. Malia always hated not having complete control of a situation, and nothing was more out of her hands than her own love-hate relationship with Theo.

But Malia wasn’t there on that day, and neither were Mason, Corey and Lydia. As usual it was Liam by Theo’s side and Scott drifting in and out of the room like a pendulum. Melissa was another constant presence and Deaton would come by a few times a day to make sure Theo hadn’t relapsed and to check whether he’d suffered any side effect from the poison and the subsequent treatment he’d been given. He said that it was likely that whatever was left from the poison and the treatment and remnants of whatever else the Dread Doctors had put inside Theo had been expelled as the bile he threw up when he first woke up, but it was safer to be completely sure.

The question that still stood was how much of a toll had it already taken on Theo’s psyche because according to Melissa, on the physical side, he was perfectly healthy.

“You want some water?” Liam asked again, straightening up in his seat and leaning closer to the bed, as if being up in Theo’s face would finally get the other boy to make eye contact.

Another barely there shake of the head.

Liam tried not to let his frustration get the better of him but it was hard. “I’m just trying to help you,” he almost yelled but took a deep breath to calm himself down. “So…just…just _let me_.” He finished, inhaling and exhaling hard through his nose. He felt bad for losing his temper like that, but the guilt he felt was immediately dampened when Theo actually looked away from the ceiling for the first time that day and turned to meet his eyes.

They stayed like that for a long while; Theo just looking deep into his eyes and he found himself staring back just as intensely. When Theo opened his mouth as if to say something, Liam didn’t hold his breath, because it wasn’t the first time Theo’s made it seem like he was about to say something but ended up not saying anything at all, and then just losing himself in his own mind for hours on end. So when actual words came tumbling from his lips, Liam was less than prepared; not for the actual speaking part, but even less for what Theo had to say.

“You’re not real,” he said, his voice hoarse and dry and barely above a whisper.

Liam felt his heart skip a beat at Theo’s words. Deaton had stated his suspicion about Theo’s state of mind, but getting proof that it was indeed true was a completely different subject matter.

“What? Theo…I _am_ real,” he said. “ _You’re_ real. Scott’s real; everything around you is real and you’re really here now—with us. You’re safe!” he exclaimed, almost to a point of vehemence, but he needed Theo to get that. He needed him to believe it, to believe him. Otherwise there was nothing any of them could do that would make any difference. Theo needed to trust his own mind again before they could even think of getting them to trust him.

Without a word, Liam reached for Theo’s hand. He was too quick and Theo didn’t have time to react or to pull his hand back out of Liam’s grasp. Liam held on firmly, but not forcefully; holding Theo’s hand between his fingers and tugging the limb up to his cheek, placing the palm of Theo’s left hand flat on the side of his cheek.

“You feel that? That’s _real_ , that’s flesh and blood and skin and bones _you’ve_ fractured with this very hand more than your fair share of times, remember?” he asked, his eyes never leaving Theo’s and his grip remained firm holding Theo’s wrist in his strong grasp.

Theo didn’t say anything, but he didn’t retreat back into his own mind as he’d been doing whenever things seemed to become too stressful. He kept Liam’s gaze and he didn’t try to pull his hand out of Liam’s grasp, which was a good sign at least.

Liam didn’t say anything more; his hand was still around Theo’s and the cool palm resting flat on the side of his cheek. He felt, rather than saw, when Theo ran his thumb across his fingers, back and forth as if the repetition of the movement soothed him, grasping on tight to the hand holding his, like he was trying hard to believe that the person standing in front of him, the person holding his hand and the person whose skin was warm to his touch, was indeed _real._ Like he was using Liam's presence to keep himself grounded in reality.

“I’m real, Theo,” he said, “And so are you.” 

Theo took a deep shuddering breath when he said that and exhaled slowly through his nose before he suddenly tugged his wrist free from Liam’s grasp, bringing it back down to hug his own chest like a protective shield.

Liam felt his heart drop into his stomach at his response but he tried not to let it show.

When Theo turned away; shifting himself onto his side, facing away from Liam and half curling into himself, Liam felt his stomach plunging further into his gut, this time he could barely hold back the tears of disappointment that sprung to his eyes.

He was left standing there in bitter disappointment, staring at Theo’s back and no one else around to witness his failing, but he felt like the biggest failure and the worst friend alive. He was too caught up in his own disgrace that he almost didn’t hear his name being called in a voice that was barely even recognizable as Theo’s.

It took him a moment to realize that Theo had indeed spoken and he immediately bent down closer to hear what he had to say and Theo’s barely audible, “Please stay,” was as surprising as it was heartwarming, and every negative emotion he was feeling in that moment was immediately washed away.

“Of course,” he said quickly, reaching over to place a comforting hand on Theo’s shoulder. “I’ll be right here, okay? I’m not going anywhere.”

The nod was almost unnoticeable, but it said everything Liam needed to hear in that moment.

For the first time since he woke up, Theo’s sleep actually seemed peaceful. The muscles of his back weren’t perpetually taut, his brows weren’t furrowed in deep concentration and he didn’t seem like he was being plagued by unforgiving nightmares. And if all it took was Liam’s calming presence—a bizarre concept of its own, since Liam would describe himself with literally every word in the English dictionary first before he’d settle on the word _calm_ —then Liam was willing to make a home of that very spot.

When Melissa stopped by almost an hour later, her obligatory question of; “How is he?” wasn’t met by a disgruntled grunting sound and a noncommittal shrug and Liam’s ever ascending bad mood slowly reaching peak levels. This time, he actually turned to answer her question, his shoulders relaxed and his mood almost light, even a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

“I think…” he said, trying not to betray the hopeful feeling that had started blossoming in his gut, “I think maybe I got through to him, even if just a bit.”

Melissa smiled wide at what he said. “That’s great, Liam, I knew you could do it.”

“I-I mean, it’s not like he’s totally okay yet or anything,” he interjected quickly, feeling the blush slowly creeping onto the apple of his cheeks. “And I didn’t even really do anything, it was all of you, and Deaton and Lydia—”

“Liam,” Melissa interrupted; her voice stern though her lips were curved upwards in a small smile. “Don’t sell yourself short. It was the combined effort of all of us, but, if it wasn’t for you being worried about him in the first place—” Liam tried telling her that he _totally_ wasn’t worried _at all_ , but Melissa continued on like he hadn’t even opened his mouth to speak; “And without you finding him and bringing him here and realizing what you did about the scars and just…just you being here for him every step of the way—don’t underestimate how important having that small thing to latch on to, having that _anchor_ , can be to a person, especially someone who was suffering what Theo had suffered. Sometimes healing just the physical stuff isn’t enough, a person isn’t just a corporeal body. They’re a spirit, and a soul and a mind that would have just been as easily lost, but _you_ held onto it for him. You held on to him, _you_ did that and no one else. So…give yourself some credit too, Liam, because you deserve it as much as anyone.”

Liam was left absolutely speechless when Melissa finished, but Melissa just smiled. Without giving him a chance to reply, she reached over to pat him on the shoulder, doing the same to the still sleeping Theo and without a glance back, disappeared out the door as majestically as she appeared.

Theo stayed asleep for another four hours after that; his chest rising and falling with each exhale, his eyes closed in peaceful slumber; his lashes almost brushing the smooth area under his eyes. His lips slightly parted. It was sleep clouded in serenity and Liam felt himself relaxing just listening to the sound of Theo’s breathing until he nearly dozed off himself. ‘ _Nearly’_ being the objective word because he must have _definitely_ fallen asleep but because the next thing he realized, he was squinting painfully against the sudden brightness of the room and his neck and shoulder felt like that time one of the opposing players had hooked him across the side of the neck with his stick.

Theo was awake and staring right at him.

He’d moved from his position with his back to Liam at one point during the time Liam had dozed off and was now lying on his left side facing Liam, his eyes half lidded with exhaustion and his expression unreadable.

“Hey,” Liam said, immediately straightening up and stretching the kinks from his joints before settling back down, resting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward slightly in his seat.

Theo didn’t immediately answer, but he didn’t look away. “Are you still real?” he asked after a moment.

Liam felt a tug at his lips though he tried not to smile too obviously when he answered. “Yes I am,” he said, “And so are you.”

Theo visibly exhaled at the words and though he tore his eyes away from Liam, he stayed present and in the moment with him and Liam latched onto the comforting feeling it exuded.

When Scott returned to the room later on, Theo actually turned to look at him and reciprocated his warm greeting with a small acknowledging nod which immediately brightened Scott’s whole demeanor.

Then Malia stopped by for a while and Mason and Corey, undoubtedly having gotten texts from Scott about Theo’s improving condition and mood; he even read out loud a message Stiles had sent, since he could take any time off from the Academy to come himself. Liam assumed it was due to his involvement in letting a dangerous serial killer escape custody, although the fact that he wasn’t kicked out at all said a lot about the kind of pull Stiles had even in that kind of institution. Liam could only imagine the exasperation on Sheriff Stilinski’s face when he heard.

Speaking of the man, Scott told him even the Sheriff had stopped by at some point, Liam hadn’t noticed his presence at all, but it said a lot that even the Sheriff was concerned enough about Theo’s wellbeing to stop by. Not that it mattered any to Theo. Although he seemed to have come to accept that Liam was indeed real, it didn’t mean that the same belief extended to everyone and everything else. After all, Theo and the rest of the pack had never really been on the best of terms, it must have been quite a sight to wake up to; being surrounded by the very people who hated your guts and never made a secret of it. It was no real wonder that Theo was still skeptical about how real everyone really was.

“You need anything?” he asked when it was just the two of them once again in their little bubble—Scott hovering near the door typing something on his phone. “Water? Something to eat maybe?”

Theo held his gaze for a while without answering, though this time it wasn’t something Liam found discouraging. “Water,” he said suddenly, once again without Liam really expecting an answer which forced him to do a little double take, and he tried not to do a little jig at the same time.

“Water? Right—okay, coming right up,” he said, almost leaping to his feet. “I’ll—uh, I’ll get— _water_!” he repeated, realizing that he sounded like a stuttering fool but he really didn’t care much about his appearances at that point.

But then Theo chuckled a little. It wasn’t the kind of chuckle he was used to hearing from Theo, though with Theo most of the time it was less of a chuckle and more of a disgusted scoff, but he let out a small rush of breath and the corner of his lips curved upwards barely a fraction, but he might as well have been grinning from ear to ear for all Liam cared.

He muttered something to Scott that was probably completely indecipherable in his rush, judging by the look of confusion that came over Scott’s face and the bewildered ‘huh?’ he let out before Liam jogged out the room, down the hall and out of view.

Theo wanted water. It was the first thing he asked for of his own free will in almost a week and Liam was damn well going to get him all the water he wanted.

Things were finally looking up and Liam was going to do his darndest to keep it that way.

**Tbc.**


	8. Member of the Pack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because you guys seems to have seen through my clever ruse, this time I posted the new chapter BEFORE I replied to comments, so hah, I bet you definitely didn't see that coming. 
> 
> I kid, I was a bit busy the whole day, so I decided to post it first and get to the comments after this, so prepare yourselves cause your inboxes are about to be flooded by my most likely massive replies as usual.
> 
> Also a gentle reminder: **you guys are awesome!**

All good things, as they said, must come to an end.

Liam was floating on cloud nine for the next couple of days as Theo continued to heal and his mood and his mindset continued to improve slowly but surely. He actually made small talk with the people who stopped by. Or rather, they talked and he seemed like he was genuinely listening to what they had to say. In Mason and Corey’s case, the scoff that he would inadvertently emit when they were talking was proof enough of that fact.

But when Liam talked—as he talked about everything and nothing at once—about the Lacrosse news he kept up with and which team they’d be facing first come the new season, Theo would just lay back in silent wonderment watching him, his eyes unblinking as he continued to study Liam. Liam noticed it but he tried not to bring attention to the fact that he did. He just continue talking, his eyes darting everywhere except in Theo’s direction and he could feel the heat of Theo’s gaze boring holes into him the entire time. It was weird, but it wasn’t uncomfortable and at a certain point, Liam found himself getting used to the attention, if not outright reveling in it.

The rub, as they’d say, came soon after, when things were actually starting to fall back into place for all of them. Scott finally left the hospital for longer periods to finish his own packing, since Theo was slowly on the mend, and though he hadn’t fully returned to being the Theo they all knew and loved to hate, he was no longer in imminent danger which set everyone’s mind at relative peace. Liam though stayed throughout.

He returned to the room one afternoon after going out for a while to hang with Mason and taking a much needed breath of fresh air, only to step back into the room to find that Theo had changed out of the hospital gown into a pair of black sweats and a black t-shirt and was sitting perched on the edge of the mattress slowly pulling on his shoes.

Liam stepped in, his brows furrowed, and rounded the bed before Theo even realized he was there.

“What are you doing?” he asked, or demanded, more like.

Theo glanced up at him and at least he had the audacity to actually look guilty. He shrugged casually, letting his arms rest limp on his lap, not replying but not moving to do anything else.

Liam stepped closer to find the small bag of stuff Corey that brought from Theo’s truck was packed up and zipped up on the bed beside him; ready to go just as Theo obviously was.

“I…” Theo started, his mouth opening and closing, trying to find the words but obviously failing, before he shut it again and didn’t continue.

Liam could feel his temper rising, he didn’t even know why, though he had a good idea. “You’re leaving,” he said as more of a statement than a question. “Just like that? Without saying anything—huh?” he asked, his brows furrowing further and he could feel his hackles rising like the little hairs on his arms and the back of his neck. “So _what_ —you-you were just going to strut out without saying a word to anyone—just… _disappear_ , is that it?” Liam came to a stop about a foot way, staring down Theo who hadn’t looked up to meet his eyes since he glanced away from the intensity in Liam’s gaze. “After everything we did for you?”

That got Theo’s attention and he immediately turned to face Liam, his own eyes flashing. “Well I didn’t ask you to!” he said, his tone raised, causing Liam to take a step back. “I didn’t ask you— _any_ of you to do anything! I just wanted you to leave me alone but you had to butt in like you always do. You and Scott and your goody-do-goodness can never just mind your own business. I would have dealt with it myself—”

“You were dying! No, you _died_ , Theo—you died! Do you know how it felt watching that happen? Watching it happening and not being able to do anything?” Liam was yelling by that point, he didn’t care if he was attracting attention. Theo was getting to him in ways he hadn’t in awhile. In a way he hadn’t before.

“Why do you even care anyway? Huh? So what if I died, I’m not a part of your pack, hell I’m not even your friend! You and Scott and Malia and your _pack_ have made that abundantly clear more than once,” Theo had his fists balled on his knees; staring up at Liam though he remained sitting. That inaction alone forced Liam to try and rein in his temper. It showed that Theo still wasn’t a hundred percent, and there was more to his decision to leave than met Liam’s eye.

“God, you are so damn stupid, you know that?” Liam was breathing heavily through his nose, trying to keep himself under control and bring his anger down to a manageable level, but it didn’t mean that he was going to let Theo’s dumb ass decision slide without calling him out on it. “Stupid and blind! Can’t you even see what’s in front of you? The fact that everyone was here, everyone was worried about you and everyone did everything they could possibly do to save you. You think they would do that if they hated you? If you weren’t a member of this _pack_ you hate so much?”

“You want a medal?” Theo scoffed, meeting Liam’s gaze with his own equally intense glare. “You want a thank you? Well here it is: _thank you_ , oh great Liam and oh great Alpha, Scott. Thank you for caring about me and going out of your busy way to help me. I hope your conscience is all clear now, if not, rest assured that you have my eternal gratitude and blessing,” he said. His voice dripping with sarcasm and his tone almost sing song in its mocking.

Liam was getting so angry by that point that he had crossed over into a state of perpetual calm which wasn’t like him at all. Deep down, he knew instinctively that something definitely wasn’t right with Theo. Instead of allowing his anger to get the better of him as it usually did, he forced himself to breathe in and out, counting down from ten in his mind and regarding Theo again. Instead of yelling out something or calling him names or resorting to his preferred method of response—physical violence—he regarded Theo with a concerned look as he just said, “What’s _wrong_ with you?”

That halted Theo immediately. His mouth open as if to reply but the words dead on his lips, his eyes darting around the room and his chest heaving in time with the pounding of his heart, something that Liam could have heard even without his enhanced hearing. “I…I…” Theo stuttered; his fist clenching and unclenching and his eyes starting to glisten under the brightness of the fluorescent light. “You should have let me die,” he said finally, his voice barely above a whisper and his demeanor even lower. His back was hunched and his eyes staring at his hand clenched tight on his lap. “I didn’t ask you to save me. I didn’t ask you to bring me back here,” he said. “I didn’t ask you to do anything.”

Liam could feel the last remnants of his anger slowly seeping away as he exhaled. “You didn’t have to,” he said simply.

Theo visibly stilled though his gaze remained averted. Liam could see his knuckles turning white because of how tight he was clenching his fist; the muscles of his back were taut and his chest was heaving from the breath he was inhaling and exhaling through his nose.

“You should have minded your own business,” he muttered. It took Liam’s enhanced hearing to pick up on Theo’s words. It didn’t seem like the words were meant for his ears at all even though they were directed to him. “You should have just stayed away. You should have…” Theo swallowed the lump in his throat; he was rambling on by that point, seemingly talking to himself rather than Liam. “You should have…I don’t deserve to be saved,” he said finally, which spurned Liam into action.

His first instinct was to grab Theo by the front of his shirt and slam him into the wall and tell him off for being such a dumbass; to yell at him until he finally understood his place among them, among their pack; among Liam’s circle of friends. But deep down he knew that course of action would have been futile. It might have worked on old Theo, but with new Theo, he needed to tread the water carefully and sensitively.

So instead, he stepped around Theo and took a seat on the mattress next to him, leaving less than a foot of space between them.

Theo didn’t turn to look at him but he could feel the tension in his shoulders tighten and the way he clenched his jaw like he was expecting something bad to happen.

Liam would never have picked himself as the go to person to deal with this sort of problem; that was Scott’s area, or even Mason’s. Liam was always a punch first, ask questions later sort of person, which pretty much described his friendship with Theo to a T. But this Theo didn’t need a good punch in the face, he needed…Liam didn’t even know what he needed or what he even had to give. He really wished Scott were there at that moment, he’d know how to deal with the situation.

“You don’t…I mean—you don’t _not_ deserve our help, Theo,” he said, trying to mentally grasp for the right words but coming up blank. He wished Melissa was there; hell he wished the Sheriff was there; he might not have any lost love for Theo, but he knew the type of person the Sheriff was and the type of father he was. He’d definitely have something helpful and contributing to say when it came down to it. “You paid for what you did with what you already went through. I mean…sure it doesn’t make up for everything, but—I mean, what happened to you was bad enough, we just…we just—I mean, uh—what I mean to say is that you’re a member of this pack now, Theo and we take care of our own.”

That spurned a reaction from Theo, who turned a teary gaze to look at Liam. “I didn’t _ask_ for any of this,” he said, his voice cracking.

Liam sighed. “You didn’t _have_ to,” he said. “That’s what it means to be in a pack.”

He could see the exact moment Theo’s face fell; when he dropped his guard completely and all the tension seeped away from his shoulders and he just physically _dropped_. “I killed her,” he said suddenly, holding Liam’s gaze steady. It took Liam a split second to figure out what Theo was talking about. “She was the only person who ever really cared about me…and I killed her. I let her die,” he said, his bottom lip quivering and his eyes pooling with glistening tears. “I watched her die and I did _nothing_. She suffered so horribly and I just stood back and listened to her pleading for me to help her. She was my sister—and I let her die for my own agenda.” By the time he finished, tears were already trickling down his cheek and splashing onto the white sheet on the mattress they were perched on. “I let her die, Liam; my own sister. She was the only person who loved me, she was the only person who really cared about me and I let her down—I deserve to die. I deserve to suffer. I deserve everything that happened to me in hell and everything that happened to me from that point on.”

Theo was practically sobbing by the time he finished and Liam was at a complete loss as to what to do or how to react.

He moved on instinct then, reaching out to circle his arms around Theo’s shoulders and pulling him into an embrace; letting his bury his face in the crook of his neck and sob into the collar of his shirt. He felt Theo’s arms snake around his midsection, latching onto him like his salvation and he cried. Liam just let him.

“It’s okay,” he said into Theo’s ear. “You’re okay.”

Theo didn’t seem to hear him, he just continue crying into his shoulder. “I should have suffered the way she suffered. You should have let me,” he continued. “You should have let me…you should have… _why didn’t you_?”

“Because you don’t deserve to. No one does,” he said, latching on tighter onto the material of Theo’s shirt. “You _don’t_ , Theo, no matter how much your heart is telling you that you do,” he continued, “Because you’re trying to do the right thing now. I see it, Scott sees it, everyone sees it and I know your sister would be proud to see it too.” The last part only made Theo sob harder but Liam felt like he’d run out of things to say to comfort him and reassure him.

“I told her…” Theo started after a while, his sobs ceasing though Liam could still feel the warmness of the tears soaking into his shirt, “I told her that it was okay—I told her she didn’t have to stop; I deserve everything she did because I hurt her, because I caused her death and she deserved better than to have me as a brother. She deserved better than what happened to her.”

Liam didn’t know what to say to that. He felt himself grasping at straws trying to find something to reply that wouldn’t force Theo back into the shell he’s surrounded himself in, but at the same time, he didn’t want to push him to say anything he didn’t want to. The path was a fine line laid out before him and treading it was never one of Liam’s forte. “But…just uh…you can’t change what happened, no matter how terrible it is. You can just…go forward and try to make something better of yourself, if not for you, do it for your sister. It’s her heart that’s beating inside your chest now. There’s nothing you can do to change that besides… just… _using_ it… for good.”

What he said seemed to be the right thing to say because he could hear Theo’s crying ceasing almost immediately. He shifted slightly in Liam’s embrace; Liam could feel him reaching to wipe the tears from his face because he reluctantly unfurled his grip on Liam’s shirt and pulled back. Liam let go just as hesitantly.

Theo didn’t immediately meet his gaze when he pulled away. He kept his head bowed and his eyes down, staring at his fists that he once again has clenched on his lap. A couple of minutes passed by without Theo moving or saying anything, until he looked up suddenly, staring at an empty corner in the far side of the room ignored by the light of the sun streaming in through the window. It left a shadowy, untouched spot where the parallel walls met and Theo was staring at it like it was a gate opening leading directly to hell. Liam didn’t think it was far from the truth at that point.

He reached out, placing a hand on the side of Theo’s jaw, forcing him to break the terrified eye contact and turn to the side to meet his eyes.

“It’s not real,” he said, knowing without knowing exactly what Theo was staring petrified at. “ _She’s_ not real,” he added. “ _I am._ We both are.”

Theo kept his gaze, unblinking; his eyes red and damp and widened in fear, his breath hitching in his chest. Though the longer he kept eye contact with Liam, the more his breathing started to ease and the Liam could see the fear slowly seeping away from his gaze. He tried to not react when Theo reached up to place his palm on the back of the hand he had on his cheek. Just covering it gently with his own and with the barest of touches, stroking the back of the knuckles with his thumb.

“You’re real,” Theo said, less of a question and more of a reassurance to himself.

“And so are you,” Liam reiterated, making a point to stare more intently into his eyes as he said it.

“I’m real,” Theo parroted, repeating the phrase to himself a few more times after that though he didn’t move to release the grip he had on Liam’s hand and Liam in turn didn’t even think of pulling his hand out of Theo’s grasp.

They just sat like that for a while; minutes? Hours? They didn’t know, it didn’t matter then. The only thing that mattered was the fact that both of them were there in that moment, and that the fact was finally real enough to Theo for him to genuinely believe it.

Neither of them noticed Scott and Melissa watching everything unfolding from the threshold of the door. Keeping out of sight but having listened to the entire exchange between the two boys inside the room. They shared a look between them at that moment, and both came to a wordless agreement about what they needed to do.

**Tbc.**


	9. Of Awkward First Kisses (A.K.A. The McCall House For Wayward Werewolves and Other Supernatural Creatures)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna start things off a bit differently today. Instead of starting the chapter by heaping praises onto all your lovely people breathing life into this fic, I want to instead ask you a few questions. 
> 
> 1\. Besides Thiam, what are the other ships/characters you like or would like to see in the fic. I ask because I have a plan about how to end the story (we're going to go out with a literal bang) and I might bring in a couple more characters to round everything out. I can't promise whether your ship or your character will be included, but it will give me a starting point to head in either or direction. Among the questions, I do want to know Scott pairing does the majority prefer: Kira or Malia?
> 
> 2\. Do any of you watch new Lethal Weapon series? If you do, what's your opinion on the show, because I'm toying around with an idea - it might end up being nothing, but I just want to get all my chickens in order first in case.
> 
> Also if you don't know what to say about the fic in the comment, it's totally okay to just leave a comment with your reply to the question.
> 
> In conclusion; I lied. I would never pass on the chance to heap praises on you lovely amazing people who make this all possible and keep me inspired to write ❤️
> 
> And lastly, this is by far the longest chapter at over **5K words** , and it's really my first venture into an aspect that's more... I'd say - intimate. So...

Theo was finally allowed to leave the hospital; it was not an official discharge considering that he wasn’t officially admitted and of the two people who were treating him one was actually a veterinarian; but it was the only _okay_ he needed.

“Well, Theo,” Deaton had said, his smile sincere and his eyes warm. “As I’d said countless times already; _physically_ , there’s nothing really wrong with you, so keeping you here any longer would be a waste of all of our time.”

Theo didn’t react to Deaton’s words at all. He’d come a long way from where he was a week ago, even from the point when he first woke up from his near death experience, but it didn’t mean that he freely engaged in interacting with anyone who wasn’t Liam or Melissa. He would answer questions asked by Scott, and he even apologized for shirking away from Malia’s touch. But he’d curl back into himself whenever Argent or Sheriff Stilinski stopped by; he wouldn’t outright react to Deaton’s presence except to tune him out and with everyone else, he would just kind of accept their presence and that was about it.

It still left the very real and very big problem of what exactly was going to happen to Theo after that. He had nowhere to go, no home or parents to return to. Hell, not even a house if Mason was to be believed. How Mason exactly came about that bit of information Liam didn’t really know but when he asked Theo about it, he’d just kept mum and looked away silently, not answering, which was answer enough. That revelation, or rather, reminder, really drove home the fact that none of them really knew anything about Theo at all.

Scott was more than a little upset when Liam told him, and just like Liam, he could see the guilt flashing across his face when he turned to glance at Theo who had his back to them, sitting on the bed inside the room, staring morosely at the stained wall his bed was pushed up against.

Liam still hadn’t gotten used to this _new_ Theo. He remembered Theo clearly; the sarcastic, know-it-all, pain in the ass that always seemed to pop up wherever he was, especially when he needed him the most but was too stubborn to admit to the fact. The Theo he remembered was completely different from the Theo he first met and the one who had torn their pack to pieces, almost indefinitely, and both those Theo’s were completely different from this one, who said nothing and did even less; who would spend the whole day staring blankly into the distance at something only he could see; who only spoke what little words Liam managed to drag out of him and the one who seemed keen on just _existing_ , as opposed to living the life he still had.

A small, very isolated part of Liam’s heart wondered whether they’d done wrong by bringing Theo back, if it wasn’t what he wanted in the first place; if all they did was bring him back to a life of sadness and pain. But then he remembered the sound of Theo’s sobbing, and the devastation in his voice when he talked about his sister and he couldn’t help but feel in the much larger part of his heart that he wanted to help him somehow, to help him find some peace and maybe even forgiveness from himself. He may not have gotten the verbal forgiveness from everyone he hurt, but the fact that those people were the ones most worried about him when he was dying; Liam thought that perhaps he’d earned it without realizing.

“Hospital policy is that the patient leave the premise assisted in a wheelchair,” Liam said as Theo gathered up the backpack that held most of his possessions and slung it over his shoulder.

“Hell no,” Theo said as he turned. Liam was glad to see a spark of old Theo shining through when he said those words. Any small glimpse he got of old Theo was a memory he treasured because it wasn’t a regular occurrence.

“Fine,” he said even though he wasn’t exactly expecting a different answer. Instead he stepped up and before Theo could do anything or even protest, reached out and snatched the backpack out of his hand and slung it over his own shoulder. “But I’m carrying this,” he said without leaving any room for debate.

Theo just glowered at him but didn’t say anything. Instead he adjusted the zipper on his hoodie absentmindedly and smoothed out the dark t-shirt he wore underneath. Liam didn’t have to listen to his heartbeat or smell the anxiety radiating off him to tell that he was nervous. But he didn’t have time to address it any further before Scott and Malia suddenly appeared at the door.

“Ready?” Scott asked with a smile, looking far too relaxed in comparison to Liam’s nerves slowly fraying on the inside.

What was Theo going to do? What was _he_ going to do? They weren’t going to release Theo back into the wild alone with just his truck for company to deal with everything by himself once again, were they?

“You can stay with me!” he blurted out suddenly, stopping dead in his tracks and halting the progress of Malia, Scott and Theo a few steps ahead of him. “I mean—uh… what I mean is, you don’t have to stay in your truck, at least…uh, at least for now.”

Liam thought he imagined the touched look that briefly flashed across Theo’s face, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. “And what’re you going to tell your parents? Your stepdad?” he asked.

“Uh… I’ll… I’ll think of something,” he said; he didn’t miss the look Scott and Malia exchanged behind Theo’s back, but didn’t bring attention to it.

“Don’t be stupid, Liam,” Theo said and Liam could feel his face visibly falling. He thought Theo probably noticed it too because he quickly added; “I-I appreciate the offer, but… it’s not going to work and you know it. Your parents don’t even know me; you think they’d want me living in their house?”

“I can tell them you’re a friend,” Liam said. He realized he sounded like he was grasping for straws, which wasn’t far from the truth. He just needed to do _something_. He couldn’t just stand by and watch Theo walking out by himself with nowhere to go and no one to be with. He _wouldn’t_.

Theo exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. “I appreciate the thought, I really do, but… it just wouldn’t work. It’s… it’s not that simple—”

“Why not? You need a place to stay, and I have a place,” he continued arguing, knowing he was growing more and more desperate by the second.

“It’s not your place to offer, Liam,” Theo said as-a-matter-of-factly, though he eyes were compassionate. “Just… don’t worry, I’ll find something. I’ll deal with it the way I always do,” he added.

Liam found himself arguing his last point, realizing that he sounded about ten years younger than his actual age in that moment when he whined, “But you don’t _have_ to.” He immediately turned his gaze to Scott; his eyes wide and his expression pitiful. “Scott _, please_.”

Scott had just opened his mouth to speak after shooting another look at Malia before Theo said, “That’s enough,” with probably a bit too much vehemence that he really intended because he added in a much softer tone immediately. “It’s fine, Liam. I’ll be fine… let’s just… let’s just get out of here,” he said and walked off without waiting for an answer or to see if anyone was trailing after him.

Liam immediately turned to Scott again, trying to convey everything through his eyes but Scott just spared him one of his patented Scott-smiles and patted him on the shoulder without elaborating before he walked off, jogging a bit to catch up with Theo who was almost to the double flap door at the end of the hall by that point.

“It’ll be fine,” Malia said, and once again, taking her cue from Scott, didn’t elaborate any before walking off and leaving Liam to stew in the thousand and one questions and thousand and two arguments he still had brewing in his head.

He followed wordlessly after them at his own pace after that.  And if he pushed through the doors a little too violently; and if one of the doors slammed into the wall behind a little too hard; and if the other door actually went flying off its hinges and landed in a heap at the other end of the room, well, none of that was really his fault. Everyone contributed to his souring mood and everyone was too be blamed for pissing him off, especially Theo.

Not even the sight of Mason in his car, grinning from ear to ear when he pulled up at the front entrance did anything to dampen his dour mood.

The drive from the hospital was done in tense silence. It also felt like the world’s most awkward déjà vu being in Mason’s car with Mason behind the wheel, Malia in the passenger seat, Liam in the seat behind Mason’s shooting furtive glances at Theo beside him who was sitting half leaning against the door with his forehead resting on the window; his eyes staring blankly out at the scenery rushing past.

Scott had gone ahead on his bike, though Liam remained oblivious as to where exactly they were headed since no one seemed to be in a sharing mood and Theo had disappeared into his own mind again the moment they stepped into the car.

He tried not to show it, but he couldn’t help but flashback to that moment a little over a week ago when the four of them were in nearly the exact same position, except that Theo was lying in his lap, _dying_ and no one knew what was wrong with him or what to do to help him. They were one for three in the car at that moment, since Theo wasn’t dying, they had a vague inkling as to what was wrong with him, but still neither Liam nor anyone present at that moment knew how to help him.

He’d made a lot of progress over the last couple of days, but he was still far from being okay and far from being the old Theo they all loved and hated—at least that was true in Liam’s case.

It occurred to Liam at that moment, glancing over to where Theo was sitting morosely staring out at the suburban houses and the manicured lawns beyond their porches zooming past; doodling squiggles on the window with his finger, that maybe he’d be wrong all along. The whole time his mind had subconsciously separated Theo into these three separate beings: the Theo that had split their pack apart, the Theo that had come back and helped them with the Ghost Riders and saved him from the hunters more than once, and this new unfamiliar Theo who was like an entirely new entity that no one knew how to deal with.

But what if he had been wrong? What if there had only been two Theo’s the entire time?

The Theo had had been manipulated by the Dread Doctors; used to do their bidding and twisted and molded into an unconscionable being that felt no remorse.

And the Theo _before_ the Dread Doctors. The one who had asthma like Scott, the one who Scott had at one point considered a friend; the one _Stiles_ had once considered a friend.

What if being in hell had purged Theo of whatever it was the Dread Doctors did to him, whatever darkness they’d injected into his soul, whatever evilness they’d poisoned his mind with that made him do all the bad things he did.

What if _this_ Theo sitting in front of him was the real Theo all along?

That would have explained Stiles’s almost immediate feeling of suspicion when he came back into their life unannounced, because nothing about the Theo he met that first time rescuing Scott from the first Chimera correlated in anyway with this Theo that he’d grown to know and care about.

He was too lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t realize when Mason pulled into the familiar junction that lead into the familiar residential street and parked right beside the small stone steps that led towards the house that he’d come to consider his second home. Pulling up behind Theo’s parked truck made Liam’s heart almost drop into his stomach for some inexplicable reason.

“We’re here,” Mason announced, turning around in his seat. “Not that that drive wasn’t a _heap of fun_ , but I for one am glad that we’ve arrived.”

Liam didn’t reply before both Malia and Mason stepped out of the car, leaving him waiting for Theo to… well, truth be told, he wasn’t sure what exactly he was waiting for Theo to do. React somehow, maybe show even a hint of emotion: happiness, sadness, anger— _anything_. Theo was just so unresponsive to everything, the most he’d said and the most responsive he’d been in weeks was arguing with Liam about them saving him and about staying over at his place before they left the hospital. Liam was too frustrated by the subject matter at the time to really appreciate the moment. For a second it reminded him of the good old times arguing with Theo over nothing and when punching him in the face was the most natural course of action.

But whatever flood of emotion had taken over Theo then, it had obviously left him once again.

He subconsciously reached out to grasp Theo firmly by the shoulder, attracting his attention. “You okay?”

Theo turned to meet his eyes before the corner of his lips curled into a small, half smirk. “I’m fine,” he said, shrugging Liam’s hand off his shoulder, opening the door and stepping out without word.

Liam forced himself to inhale and exhale to calm himself down, something he felt he’d been doing quite a lot lately. Theo just seemed to have that sort of effect on him.

Scott was conversing with Malia and Mason when he rounded the car and walked up to Theo who had leaned back to rest his back against the door of the car, his eyes staring at the pavement under his feet and his hands tucked into the pockets of his pants.

He sensed Melissa’s presence before he saw her walking down the steps towards them; her hair pulled back into a lose ponytail and she was dressed in regular clothes instead of the crisp scrubs he’d become so used to seeing her in. She made a beeline for Theo when she approached, placing a hand on Theo’s shoulder immediately when she stepped close.

“Hey,” she said, “How’re you feeling?” she asked, bending down slightly to get into Theo’s line of sight, forcing him to look up at her to meet he eyes. “Sorry I wasn’t there to see you off; I had like seven _thousand_ boxes filled with old newspaper to haul into storage. I think I may have a bit of a hoarding problem and not realized it,” she said with an easy chuckle.

Liam could see the confusion clear in Theo’s eyes as he surveyed Melissa, obviously not knowing what to do with the information he’s been given. His answer of a bewildered ‘okay’ seemed to both amuse and cheer Melissa up quite a bit.

“Here are your keys, by the way,” Scott said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a set of keys and handing it to Theo. “Deaton said to tell you that he took the liberty of cleaning out your backseat for you. Well… he got Mason and Corey to do it _for him for you_ ,” Scott said.

“Of which, you’re welcome, by the way,” Mason interjected quickly.

Theo looked between the keys in his hand, to Scott then to Mason and then between Melissa and Malia standing off to the side before his gaze finally rested on Liam standing patiently beside him.

“Uh… thanks,” he said uncertainly. “And, uh, thanks for… for saving my life, I guess,” he said with a small shrug, pushing himself off the car, twirling the keys in his hand and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “I guess I should…” he said, motioning towards his truck with a casual wave.

“You wanna put your stuff in your truck first?” Melissa asked. “That would kind of defeat the purpose of all the clearing out I just did, but whatever you’re comfortable with,” she added.

Theo raised an eyebrow and let out a questioning, “Huh?” which was pretty much in unison with Liam’s response in the like.

“Scott didn’t tell you?” Melissa asked, turning to glance at Scott who just shrugged, a sheepish look on his face.

Theo and Liam both shook their heads in unison.

“You’re staying with us,” Melissa said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “At least, until you’re back to a hundred percent, or until you find a better living arrangement. Your parents aren’t around, are they?” she asked.

That caused Theo to look away almost immediately, shaking his head in a negative. His off handed, “They’re not my parents,” was muttered almost under his breath, but everyone managed to catch what he said regardless.

“Well, that’s settled then,” Melissa said, clasping Theo on the shoulder and beckoning him up the steps. “I won’t take no for an answer.”

Liam could sense, smell and see the confusion radiating off of Theo’s entire being when he threw a glance at Liam from over his shoulder as Melissa continued half beckoning, half pulling him up the steps and across the patio up to the front porch.

“This was the plan the entire time?” Liam turned immediately to face Scott when Melissa and Theo both disappeared into the house. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well… I didn’t want Theo to know yet, he would definitely have turned us down or worse, run. And you heard what my mom said… she wasn’t going to take no for an answer,” Scott said.

“Are you really okay with it though? I mean… despite what happened this past week and what happened with Theo this past few of month. I’d understand if you didn’t want anything to do with him, much less have him living under your roof with you and your mom,” Liam asked.

Scott just exhaled. “I think that Theo has done his fair share of atoning, not that I think it completely makes up for everything he did, but at least he’s trying and I can see that. Also, I leave for college in a week and… I don’t know, maybe… maybe I just didn’t want my mom being by herself in the house, especially after everything that’s happened and especially because Monroe’s still alive somewhere and she undoubtedly is still holding a grudge,” Scott said.

Liam couldn’t argue with Scott’s reasoning so he just nodded in understanding. It made sense in more ways than one and it was also a good enough reason so that Theo wouldn’t feel like either Scott or Melissa were pitying him by bringing him into their home.

When Liam, Scott, Malia and Mason finally made their way into the house, they found the living room empty and the sound of Melissa’s voice floating down from the second floor, speaking from the guestroom down the hall from Scott’s bedroom.

“Isaac stayed there for a while,” Scott said as they were making their way upstairs. Mason decided to make some coffee and Malia stayed downstairs to help him and to give Liam and Scott some privacy to deal with Theo.

Liam never met Isaac; he left Beacon Hills a while before he moved there but he knew that Scott respected him a lot as a friend and as a beta, and the sentiment was reciprocated by Isaac even though Scott wasn’t the werewolf who turned him. He heard the story a few times from Lydia with Stiles providing reluctant commentary in the background about how Isaac (and Boyd and Erica) weren’t Scott’s beta’s, especially because Scott wasn’t even an Alpha at the time, but he _earned_ their respect and loyalty instead of forcing it onto them because it was the natural order of things, which spoke volumes about Scott’s own character. It also made Liam realize that as sucky as it was being turned into werewolf, he was luckier than most to have Scott as his Alpha.

They found Melissa hallway into the guestroom pointing out the closet and the bathroom down the hall and already laying out the basic ground rules to a still gob-smacked Theo who was still grasping tightly onto his backpack slung over his shoulder like he was prepared to be catapulted out of the daydream at any given time. Only when he sensed his and Scott’s presence in the room did Liam finally see the tension easing slightly from his shoulders.

“So what do you think?” Scott asked as he walked up, clasping Theo on the back. “It’s nothing fancy, but it’s warm and it’s homely and it’s—well, _home_.”

Theo turned to look at Scott, though words didn’t seem to want to come when he opened his mouth to speak. “Umm… it’s… nice?” he said, unsure.

“Well, why don’t we leave Theo to get settled in,” Melissa said, clapping her hands to get everyone’s attention. “I’ll go and make us some coffee or tea, and you come join us when you’re good and ready, okay?” she asked, looking at Theo and without waiting for him to even speak, answered herself with a chipper, “ _Okay_. Great—come on, Scott.”

And that was how Liam found himself once again alone with Theo in the unfamiliar surroundings of the McCall’s guestroom. Theo was still glued unmoving to the spot, latching onto his bag like he was about ready to bolt. Before he could even put those thoughts into motion though, Liam walked over, gently eased the strap from his too tight grip and placed it on the edge of mattress at the foot of the bed.

“So… what do you think?” he asked as a means to break the ice. “It’s a nice room, in a house with nice people.”

“Why are you like this?” Theo asked instead, looking up to stare deep into Liam’s eyes. “Why are you all like this? I didn’t ask—I… I didn’t ask for _any_ of this.”

“Did I mention that I really hate repeating myself?” he stated. “So I’m just going to say this one last time, so listen closely.” He inhaled deeply. “You don’t have to _ask_. You’re a member of this pack now, if not Scott’s pack, definitely mine. So you better get used to people coming to help you even if you didn’t ask for it, even if you don’t want it, because that’s what it means to be in a pack.”

“I never wanted to be in a pack,” Theo said, and Liam, for all his inexperience, could see through the lie like it had a flashing neon sign pointing right at it.

“You’re lying,” he said immediately.

Theo didn’t answer, though Liam didn’t expect him too. He’d honestly preferred that he didn’t, but his eyes locked onto Liam’s without blinking; as if he was staring straight into Liam’s soul with just his gaze. Theo always had such an intense gaze. Liam knew that because he’d been on the receiving end of quite a few of those stares himself. Theo said a lot, and a lot of what he said was bullshit; but whenever he spoke with his eyes, Liam could only see truthfulness and sincerity in them and he could never bring himself to look away.

Just like he couldn’t in that moment, in that room; the sound of chattering downstairs was like a comforting lull in the background of his senses. He could hear the sound of Theo’s heart beating in his chest. The rhythm was steady, almost calm, compared to his own thundering heartbeat and the feel like the organ was trying to jump straight out of his chest.

Theo didn’t look away once and Liam kept his gaze.

His body moved of its own accord in that moment, spurred on by the comforting scent of the unfamiliar room; it smelled enough like safety and the soothing promise of protection that it cast aside all of Liam’s inhibitions and he found himself moving forward; his hands on Theo’s jaw before he even realized what he was doing; the tips of his fingers brushing the soft hairs just touching the base of his neck and his lips finding Theo’s in a kiss that was nothing like he expected. It wasn’t wild, it wasn’t planned and it wasn’t even very graceful. It was awkward and clumsy and Liam didn’t know whether to open his mouth fully or keep them closed and puckered. His only comfort in that moment was that it didn’t feel any less awkward on Theo’s end either.

He found feel the hesitation radiating off Theo, not so much about the kiss, but about the little things, like where to put his hands: on the small of Liam’s back or slide it down his side, causing a shuddering gasp to escape his lips even through the kiss.

He found himself stumbling back towards the bed, dragging Theo along with him. The back of his shins hit the side of the wooden frame and he felt himself freefalling back onto the mattress, landing with a soft thump and a moan and Theo’s entire weight landing on top of him.

But they didn’t break the kiss; their lips didn’t separate even once. His hands were roaming the side of Theo’s jaw, trailing down his neck and across his shoulders, dragging the material of the collar with his thumb to reveal the soft, pale skin underneath.

Theo’s hand in return had found the underside of his own shirt, running across the surface of his waist and his torso; his nails digging into his back which caused a sensation that was not so much painful as it was arousing to flare up inside the pit of his stomach.

His instincts kicked in then; he turned on his side, flipping Theo onto his back; the soft moan he heard only made the emotional ecstasy inside him rage even more. He could sense his eyes shining a bright yellow and when he cracked open his eyes to glance at the warm body underneath his own he could see equally golden irises staring back at him through half lidded eyes.

The kiss lasted seconds—minutes—hours. It might as well have. Liam could feel the contraction in the pit of his stomach like an army of mutated butterflies had taken up residence inside his gut. That was how it felt realizing what was actually happening, knowing whose warm body was lying under his own; whose heart he could feel thundering against his chest; whose strong hands he could feel roaming the skin of his back, fingernails dragging pale marks along the length of his spine; whose lips were soft and supple and craving his kisses as much as he was theirs.

It was _Theo_.

The Theo who turned Liam against Scott and when that didn’t work, proceeded to kill Scott with his own two hands.

The Theo that had almost torn Scott and Stiles apart and scattered their whole pack as fractured pieces in the wind.

The Theo who was _evil_.

But he was also the Theo who saved Liam over and over again; helped the pack out even when he didn’t have to; even when it wouldn’t have benefitted him at all. He was also the Theo that shielded Liam from bullets and took the pain away from an enemy just because he saw himself in the agony of the dying boy.

Liam was kissing _that_ Theo; feeling his body warm under his and his strong chest heaving against his own; feeling the soft skin of his neck and shoulders in his palm and the hint of a scruff tickling his chin as they kissed, and Liam couldn’t think of a place he’d rather be instead of right there with him.

Until Theo stilled suddenly under his person; his hands ceasing its roving and the lips that had been so passionate against Liam’s own became still. Liam felt Theo’s hand on his chest immediately, not pushing him off outright, but hesitantly separating Liam’s body from his own, his eyes downcast and his face looking away. When Liam was almost completely off him, he rolled onto his side and immediately sat up on the edge of the mattress, facing away from Liam with his head bowed low.

Liam couldn’t stop the pounding of his own heart and the heat of his swollen lips on his face felt overwhelming suddenly. He was left half crouching there awkwardly, one knee still on the mattress and one arm propping himself up, unable to do anything besides staring at the back of Theo’s head.

Theo was breathing hard, his elbows on his knees and his hands fidgeting in his lap.

“I-I…I’m sorry,” Liam stuttered, swallowing hard and reaching a shaking hand up to smooth down his tousled hair. “I don’t know what came over me. I just—”

“No,” Theo interrupted; shaking his head though he didn’t turn to meet Liam’s eyes. “It’s—It’s not… it’s just… don’t be sorry,” he said earnestly. “It’s just me… I’m not… I just can’t right now. I’m sorry.”

This time it was Liam’s turn to protest. “No, it’s okay. You don’t have to be sorry either,” he said. “This was… I know we both wanted this but-but… it’s just not the right time. I-I get it. It’s okay.” Liam straightened up, taking a seat on the mattress beside Theo, keeping a respectable distance between them as their body struggled to bring their raging emotions back down to a manageable level. “I can…I can leave you to your privacy if you want; if you need it. It’s really okay.”

Theo just shook his head in a negative.

Liam tried not to concentrate too hard in trying to sense whatever was going on with Theo in that moment. He tried to tune out everything else and just concentrate on his own body and his own heartbeat and his own emotions raging inside himself. He tried not to glance over at Theo for the rest of the time they continued sitting there; it was hard, but it was important. He knew Theo needed time, just like he himself did and he was willing to afford Theo that however long he needed.

But when he felt a cool hand reaching across the short distance, covering the back of his own and latching on with a firm grip, he couldn’t help the small smile that leaped to his face before he grasped onto the limb with just as much need if not even more so.

 **Tbc.**  



	10. Pack Mother Melissa McCall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

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> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little late with the update this week; I've been busy writing as we are well on our way to the chapters growing longer and the plotlines getting much more - complicated. Also, your answers to the question from last chapter has been a great help and I think I have a good idea of the characters I might bring into the fray. Also, if I don't get to replying to the comments after this chapter goes out, it just means that I'll get to it tomorrow, real life is kicking my ass and doing all this adulting is really exhausting.
> 
> Also, obligatory author's note: You guys remain the best most awesome readers and reviewers a writer can every ask for ❤️
> 
> We're going in a slightly different direction with this chapter, so to everyone who requested more Melissa, I think you might be happy. At least I hope so.

Melissa McCall really only had one long term goal in life, and that was to raise her son to be good, to be respectful and the best person he could possibly be. So she kept her head down, she did her job, she took care of her family no matter how hard the responsibility was on some days and how impossible the obstacle in her way always seemed to be. But through all the hardship and blood and the pain and the tears, the most important thing at the end of the day was the fact that she did a pretty damn good job at it if she could have said so herself.

But then the supernatural world punched its way into her life, elevating her stress levels and constantly testing the limits of her patience, but still she took it all in her stride.

Her son was a werewolf? _Fine_.

His girlfriend was a werewolf hunter? _Fine_.

The guy she dated turned out to be the evil Alpha that turned her son; who then went on to kill a bunch of people and proceeded to try kill him and his friend a few more times? Absolutely _not_ fine, but she learned to compartmentalize. And all of a sudden the whole town turned into ground zero for the supernatural.

But as usual Melissa took it in her stride.

But then Allison died and Isaac left and she was left to pick up the broken pieces of her beloved son and comfort him when he cried himself to sleep at night for weeks; that’s when it really occurred to her that nothing about any of it was truly fine, but like with everything else in her life, she learned to cope. She put on a mask and she kept everything inside, she comforted Scott when he needed comfort; she comforted Stiles when he came by on the days when his mother’s loss was especially painful; she let Lydia cry on her shoulder when memories of Allison prevented her from closing her eyes to sleep without feeling the pain of the katana skewering her through the chest.

She embraced Liam almost immediately when she learned what Scott had done, but the anger and disappointment she felt towards her son immediately dissipated the moment she caught him wiping away the tears of guilt and shame that had pooled in the corner of his eyes. She knew Scott wouldn’t have done it if he had any other choice; she had faith in him because she raised him to be a good person and to do good always. She trusted Scott, but at the same time, she felt sympathy for Liam’s parents because she knew firsthand the feeling of helplessness that came along with being thrusted into the supernatural world so suddenly and without a safety net. She knew how unnerving it could be. Liam still hadn’t told his parents and every chance she got, she continued trying to convince him that telling his parents was the best course of action, but ultimately that choice was in Liam’s hands and no one else’s.

 _Theo_ on the other hand was a different matter entirely.

He killed Scott. He killed her baby and a part of Melissa knew that she would never be able to completely forgive him for what he’d done. So when the call came in from Scott telling her that they were taking Theo to the hospital; to _her_ , Melissa was rightfully apprehensive.

She tried to instill only good qualities in Scott; to be good, to protect his friends, to help others when they couldn’t help themselves—and it was okay to retaliate with fists once in a while if it really came to it—but hearing the name Theo and seeing his face in her mind’s eye; remembering the horror of finding her only son dead in a pool of his own blood and knowing that it was Theo who did that; it was Theo who was the crux of every terrible thing that happened to her son at that time; in that moment, Melissa wasn’t sure she’d be able to practice her own preaching.

Her concern turned out to be unfounded and her fear ended up not manifesting itself, because the moment she laid eyes on Theo, the first time she heard his agonized scream and the first time she saw the tears of pain trickling down the side of his face, everything bad he’d done in the past just faded away into nothing and Melissa couldn’t see anything other than what was in front of her eyes: a young boy who was in agony.

Melissa wasn’t sure when it happened, but she went from being a single mother of one beautiful son, to a single mother of a teenage werewolf, to a single mother of a gaggle of supernatural children. It wasn’t a position she’d signed up for but it was one she accepted with open arms, and she knew that the Sheriff and Chris Argent would deign to agree with her on that front.

That was why she did absolutely everything she could to keep Theo alive, to keep him from slipping away while everyone else worked on a cure.

It took her a while but eventually she managed to dig up fragments of memories of the young boy who came into the ER for a terrible asthma attack all those years ago. He reminded her so much of Scott that she made it her personal responsibility to treat him and take care of him for the duration of his stay, especially since she recalled that his parents didn’t show up to the ER to pick him up until almost four hours later. Even then it was his sister that rushed in to see him, his father only came in to sign the discharge papers and left to wait in the car without even checking up on his son first.

It was a classic sign of neglect and most likely abuse in some shape or form in Melissa’s opinion and she promised to keep an eye out for him any chance she could.

But she didn’t get the chance. Tara Raeken died a few months later and the whole family moved out of town before her body was even cold in the ground.

She couldn’t help but wonder; what if she’d managed to save him then, would things have still turned out the way they did? Would _Theo_ have turned out the way he did? What if she could have done something then but was lost her chance the moment he stepped out the door? _What if. What if. What if._

Melissa taught Scott to never get hung up on the what if’s, but there she was doing exactly that.

In the end, it was the combination of everyone’s effort that saved Theo and Melissa was so relieved by the end she almost cried. She did cry—right into Chris’s chest. It was as strange as it was comforting, and she’d always accepted that the chance to find happiness with another person most likely had passed her by. It almost happened with the Sheriff once upon a time ago, but that sadly ended up going nowhere, and all of a sudden Chris Argent was standing right in front of her like he’d been there the entire time and she’d only just noticed.

Her motherly instincts and her intuition, honed by years of being a single mother to a young boy and his rambunctious best friend that at some point she’d just kind of accepted as one of her own, were two of the qualities she took great pride in. So her own obliviousness to what was happening right in front of her eyes was unnerving to say the least, and she wasn’t just talking about Chris Argent in that case.

Liam was Scott’s beta, which meant that his bond with Scott was inevitably different than the bond Scott had with everyone else in his pack, even Stiles. Melissa knew that, she noticed that a long time ago, or rather, she recognized it as the parental sort of connection she had with her son and all of his friends.

How Theo fit into the equation wasn’t something that was outright obvious, but it came to her as a gradual realization. She knew the connection Theo had with Scott—for better or for worse—but seeing the way Liam was with Theo when all the craziness was going on… well, that opened her eyes to something she never would have guessed if the proof wasn’t staring her dead in the face.

She didn’t say anything because it wasn’t her place, especially because from the way Liam was acting, it didn’t seem like he’d even realized it himself.

She managed to keep Theo alive, though barely, and Deaton with the help of the pack managed to come up with a cure. But even though Theo seemed to have escaped his fate of dying a terrible death from an unexplained supernatural cause, it didn’t mean that everything else was magically healed, especially whatever it was that had developed between him and Liam.

No one noticed but her, not even the two boys in question and Melissa definitely wasn’t going to be the one to point it out.

Having Theo move in had been Scott’s idea right off the bat and despite her initial apprehension regarding the boy, Melissa really couldn’t find any reason to argue; after all it worked out for everyone involved, and it was definitely as much to her benefit as it was to Theo’s. Not that Theo was going to be in anyway a replacement for Scott, but truth be told, Melissa definitely had not been looking forward to coming home to an empty house after Scott left for college, and judging by the progression of things, Theo was definitely not the only person she’d be coming home to at night.

The day of Theo’s release and subsequent move in was uneventful, if not just downright awkward.

No one really knew what to say or how to react, especially when Theo came back down the stairs with Liam trudging after him a few seconds later. Melissa was sure no one else noticed, but the boys definitely looked far too disheveled and red in the face for a couple of people who’d sat around talking, but it was none of her business so she let it slide.

Scott put in effort to keep the situation lighthearted, acting as the intermediary between Theo and the rest of the pack; Mason quickly taking his cue from Scott on how to handle the situation, telling stories about one _intense_ thing or other—his words. Malia sat perched on the armrest of the sofa glancing intermittently in Theo’s direction, though her gaze went unnoticed by Theo who sat in the single seater sofa nursing a cup of coffee but not actually drinking any of it. Liam was doing the exact same thing from the sofa next to him.

Eventually the guests started thinning out one by one until it was only Melissa, Scott, Theo and Liam left in the house, and the sudden silence that fell was quite apparent.

“Do you need a ride home?” Scott asked Liam, who looked up suddenly and in such bewilderment, Melissa didn’t think he even remembered where he was for a split second.

“You should go home, Liam,” she said, “If just for tonight. You haven’t gone back to your house in more than a week and I’m running out of excuses to give to your dad when I meet him in the hall.”

Liam glanced anxiously between Melissa and Scott before settling his gaze on Theo who was once again avoiding eye contact.

“I… I—uh… I think I should, maybe… stay, just for tonight,” he said, “Just in case… you know, just in case something happens.” _That_ statement attracted Theo’s attention and both of them kept the silent eye contact for a long minute, completely forgetting the presence of the other two people in the room.

“Liam,” Scott started and Melissa noted with great pride that she could recognize the tone in his voice; she’d used the same tone herself many times on Scott and Stiles.

Liam’s immediate counter was just as familiar; the pleading undertone that she’d grown used to hearing as a parent over the years. “C’mon, Scott, please. Just for the night.”

Scott just sighed and immediately turned his attention back to Melissa, who could do no more than shrug in response, though the small grin on her face told stories about her own experience as a parent not being able to say no to such a pitiful begging face, because that was the exact look Liam was wearing at that moment.

“ _Fine_ ,” Scott said finally with an exasperated sigh.

If Liam could tackle Scott with just the relief radiating off him, Melissa was sure Scott would have been on his ass in two seconds flat. But she didn’t get the chance to test out that theory because Liam immediately lunged forward, grabbed a bewildered Theo by the wrist and tugged him with determination up the stairs, disappearing behind the wall on the second floor and out of sight before the sound of a bedroom door slamming close reached their ears.

Scott’s eyebrows were in his hairline when he turned to gape confusedly at Melissa, and Melissa could only laugh, reaching over to pat him on the shoulder while assuring him that everything was going to be all right.

If Melissa had any doubts whatsoever as to the validity of her suspicion, they were quickly dashed when she went to wake Theo and Liam up for breakfast the next morning and found them both asleep on the duvet of the bed, fully clothed and with their backs to each other, but in such close proximity she was sure they were feeling each other’s heart beating during the night.

She stepped back out into the hall and pulled the door close without making a sound. She made a mental reminder to leave them a note to help themselves to the food before she left for work. Scott would be gone for the day since Stiles was back in town for the weekend and they were busy trying to figure out the long term problem of where they were going to live together once Scott moved out and Stiles finished his internship.

Both of them were still asleep when she left for work that afternoon and if Melissa thought she was finally going to have an easy, stress-free day after the hectic week trying to prevent Theo from dying a horrible death, well… she was dead wrong.

Dr. Geyer’s stern, concerned face was the first sight that greeted her when she walked through the door.

“Liam called to tell me that he was staying over at your house last night?” was the first thing out of his mouth before Melissa could even take a breath to prepare herself. But luckily the man didn’t seem to be looking for an answer or a confirmation otherwise because he continued without waiting for her response. “He’s been staying over at Mason’s for a week without once dropping by at home to see us or tell us what’s going on—to let us know that he’s okay. And now he’s at your house? What’s really going on?”

Melissa exhaled once, reaching over to weave her arm around his and beckoning him down the quieter hall away from the crowd. “Firstly, he’s absolutely fine, if that’s what got you worried; it’s nothing to do with Liam personally, just… uh… a friend of his.”

“Is that why you’ve been disappearing to god knows where every ten minutes or so the past week?” he asked, drawing Melissa’s full attention. “Yeah, I noticed,” he added.

“It’s… it’s complicated. It’s nothing—” she was about to say the word _dangerous_ but decided against it because that would have been an outright lie, “—against the law, if you’re worried about that. Or if you’re worried that is had something to do with Liam’s I.E.D. As a matter of fact, I feel like it’s actually helping him get that under control. But…”

“But it’s one of those things that you can’t explain?” he interjected. “Like how you managed to figure out what was wrong with the Sheriff even though absolutely no one else would have thought of that possible scenario? Or how you seem to be in the loop of every bizarre, unexplained thing that’s happened in Beacon Hills since I’ve been here?”

“Well… _yeah_ ,” she said simply. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you but… it’s… it’s complicated.”

“And now it has something to do with Liam?”

“Well, it’s not to do with Liam specifically… but it involves him—or rather, it involves the bond he has with the person who’s actually involved.”

“But you can’t tell me?” he asked with a disappointed sigh.

“It’s not that I don’t _want_ to, as a parent there’s nothing I want to do more, but… it’s just not my place. The only thing I can do is assure you that whatever is it you’re imagining, it’s not _that_ , and if you’re concerned about Liam getting into trouble because of it, you don’t have to be. Like I said, it’s one of those moments that will make you proud as a parent. Just… the only thing I can really tell you is that Liam’s friend needs him right now, and Liam’s been his only source of comfort. Just… take reassurance in that. I know he’ll explain everything to you when he’s ready.”

Dr. Geyer just sighed, rubbing his face with his palm but he didn’t look exceptionally upset or angry which was a good enough sign.

“I’m taking your word on that, Melissa,” he said finally. “I just hope I don’t end up regretting it.”

“You won’t,” she said. Just before the doctor turned to walk away, she called him back again. “Also, it’s likely that Liam will want to stay over for a bit longer—I’ll do my best to get him to go home, but I can’t make any promises.”

Dr. Geyer sighed again. “Fine. Just… just take care of him, make sure he doesn’t get into too much trouble. I’ll figure out something to say to the missus.”

“You’re a good man,” Melissa said with a proud smile, which caused the doctor to let out a disgusted groan.

“I honestly don’t know what it is about this town,” he said. “I think it might be haunted.” And if he noticed Melissa letting out a nervous laugh at the comment, he didn’t point it out.

The rest of the day thankfully when on without a hitch and by the time Melissa finished her shift nearing the three a. m. mark, she was more invigorated than tired. It was probably because she was used to dealing with problems of the supernatural kind that all the mundane ailments that passed through the ER seemed like a cake walk in the park.

Scott had called to tell her than he and Stiles were staying the night in the next town because Roscoe has unsurprisingly broken down and this time there wasn’t enough duct tape in the compartment that could get it to start. So when Melissa finally reached home not fifteen minutes later, the silent presence sitting in the dark at the dining table startled her more than she cared to admit.

“Sorry,” Theo said, his voice monotone, only his eyes were illuminated by the brightness of the streetlight shining in through the window.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I just wasn’t expecting anyone to be up.”

“Liam’s asleep,” he said, “and I just needed… I mean—I just needed… I don’t know…”

“You needed some space? Some time to think?” Melissa offered. Theo nodded. “That’s understandable.”

Melissa shrugged off her jacket and put her bag off to the side and walked over to take a seat across the table from Theo, not bothering to turn on the light. It wasn’t completely dark and it seemed like the darkness and the silence was something Theo sought out.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” he said, probably a little too quick for her liking.

“How’s Liam?” she continued. That got Theo’s full attention.

“He’s…” he started, trailing off into an awkward silence but Melissa didn’t push him. “He’s… confusing.”

That comment made Melissa smile. “Teenage boys always are,” she said. “Though I shouldn’t say that considering you’re a teenage boy yourself,” she added. “Has it occurred to you that perhaps he finds you just as confusing in return?” Theo didn’t answer but Melissa could see that her words did seem to get him to think. “I think I’m going to make some tea, would you like some?”

“Sure.” Theo answered without turning to look at her; instead he suddenly seemed to find the groove of the table surface far more interesting; picking at it absentmindedly with his fingernail.

Melissa went about her business in silence. The only source of light was what streamed in through the window from the bright crescent moon hanging in the sky and the streetlight at the end of her yard, but she managed to navigate around the kitchen, making sure to double check that the sugar container she reached for indeed contained sugar, all while completely aware of every movement Theo made in her periphery.

Liam didn’t at any point come stumbling down the stairs looking for Theo so Melissa safely assumed that he was still blissfully lost in the throes of sleep.

The whole situation was bizarre to say the least and the feeling didn’t lessen any way she brought the two cups back to the table, resuming her seat opposite Theo and staring silently at him as she took a sip from her steaming cup. The heat of the liquid going down her throat was a welcomed distraction.

“Have you given any thought about what you want to do?” she asked finally. “College or work or… I don’t know; supernatural vigilante crime fighter? Beacon Hills is going to need one once Scott goes off to become an adult.”

That dragged out a chuckle from Theo though he smothered it almost immediately. He just shrugged nonchalantly.

“It’s not my place to ask, but I’m going to ask it anyway; what about your parents? The—uh, the people you moved back here with… they weren’t your real parents were they?” Theo seemed to shrink into himself but the small shake of his head was still noticeable to Melissa’s keen senses. “May I ask... what… what happened to them—your real parents I mean?”

Theo stayed silent, though he seemed to be giving the question some thought. “The Doctors,” he said. “They—uh… they… they said they took care of it,” he added. “They were never much as parents to anyone anyway.”

“I kind of figured,” Melissa muttered; she didn’t mean to say it aloud but it slipped out anyway and immediately piqued Theo’s attention because he turned up to look at her almost immediately but it didn’t seem like a topic he intended to pursue so both of them just let it slide.

“Thanks, for—for letting me stay,” he said, “You and Scott both. I know you didn’t have to offer and I promise to find some other arrangements as soon as possible.”

That made Melissa’s own heart lurch a little which didn’t escape Theo’s notice and she was quick to cover it up. “I won’t stop you if you really want to leave, but just know that you’re welcome to stay for as long as you want.” She made sure to say _want_ , as opposed to _need_ , because she didn’t want him to feel like he had an obligation to do one thing or another in that case. “Besides, Scott is leaving in a week and… and—well, I guess I’m just not looking forward to coming back to an empty nest; at least, not yet.”

Theo nodded in understanding. “Okay,” he said.

“Okay,” Melissa mimicked with a smile.

That was the last thing they said for the rest of the night.

At least, for the next couple of hours before Scott all of a sudden appeared at the kitchen entrance, switching on the light without prior warning, plunging the whole area in brightness and blinding both Melissa and Theo for a solid fifteen minutes after.

Theo eventually excused himself back to his room and Melissa watched in silent intrigue as he slowly ascended the staircase and disappeared down the hall.

Scott’s bemused assessment of; “There’s something weird going on with him and Liam,” was met by an amused laughter but Melissa didn’t care to elaborate. Scott would realize it himself in due time.

She didn’t know what happened between the time Theo left her after their enlightening talk and the moment she stepped in to wake them later that morning, but it was most likely something good; because once again she found them both asleep on the duvet of the bed, still full clothed. But instead of their backs being to each other, looking at the opposite ends of the room, she found Theo on his side facing the far end of the room and Liam curled up against his back, his arm slung across his chest and holding him near in sleep.

She stepped back out into the hallway as she’d done just the morning before, but this time she couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at her lips as she slowly pulled the door closed with a soft click.

She made sure to tell Scott not to disturb the boys before she left, and the progressively confused expression on Scott’s face did nothing more than amuse her.

“You’ll understand eventually,” she said as she pulled the front door close behind her; leaving Scott’s pitiful whine of; “ _Mom!_ ” unanswered in her wake.

**Tbc.**


	11. Falling in Love is a Little Confusing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, thank you to everyone who answered the ship/character and the Lethal Weapon question from chapter nine. All your opinions had been duly noted and is greatly appreciated and I think I have a good idea of who I want to bring into the fold. But then again, I am ME and such is my writing style; I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up bringing people I never really intended on and characters no one would ever expect *wink*
> 
> Secondly, I have another question. Because Liam’s father will make a reappearance at some point, I was wondering what do you think his first name is or should be? I have a thing about giving non-canon names to characters (I try not to do it) but I might need it at some point. Usually I’d fall back on the actor’s name if I really need it, so what do you think of Todd (cause the actor is Todd Williams)?
> 
> PS – Stay awesome! ❤

Theo was confusing.

 _Frustrating_ and confusing if he had to be specific.

He used to look at Scott with Kira, then Scott with Malia and Stiles and Lydia and the way Lydia would sometimes end up staring at Parrish if he were in the vicinity, and his teenage mind and innocence couldn’t help but groan disgustedly, mull over how complicated everyone was making everything and made a promise to himself that he’d never willingly put himself in such a situation.

But then Hayden happened, and it was confusing enough as it was without even taking into account the supernatural aspect.

But then Theo happened _while_ the Hayden thing was happening and Liam couldn’t help the fluttering feeling in his stomach whenever Theo was close. He tried not to be too obvious or to let it show so much, but Hayden must have noticed somehow because things all of a sudden seemed to chill between them. It wasn’t a progressive thing that he could have at least prepared himself for and Hayden didn’t make any show of it, she didn’t even seem really angry in anyway, just maybe a bit upset if he really had to describe it; not that he noticed those things on his best days. Mostly it was Mason who pointed it out to him.

But then Hayden and her sister moved out; giving him some lame excuse even though he could tell clearly that she was lying. Her concern about her sister staying in Beacon Hills after everything that happened was the only truthful thing she said during the whole one sided talk and she slipped out the door before Liam could even make sense of everything that had just taken place.

The thing with Theo on the other hand wasn’t sudden at all. It was gradual almost to the point of nonexistence and Liam didn’t even really think much about it until he found himself in his room getting changed for bed when images of Theo started assaulting his mind. It wasn’t even the things teenage boys like him should have been focused on which is everything besides the physical. All of a sudden he couldn’t stop seeing the intensity in Theo’s eyes when he looked at him, the way his gaze would always find Liam no matter what else was happening in the scene. He couldn’t stop recalling how Theo always just seemed to be around when Liam needed him, sometimes even when he didn’t want him around. He couldn’t stop thinking about the feel of Theo’s arms around him, pulling him into the elevator and away from the bullets that soon came raining down; the firm grip Theo had on his wrist preventing him away from doing something he was going to regret to Nolan and pulling him away to safety; not his own, but the safety of the people around.

He couldn’t stop thinking of Theo and wishing he were there somehow to make everything less complicated, which was ironic because complicated was Theo’s middle name. That and _pain-in-the-ass_.

Liam was naïve to think that things would just suddenly fall into place once he managed to figure out his feelings about the guy but he was definitely o-for-two because he still had absolutely no clue what was going on or what even to do and Theo wasn’t helping him at all.

“So…” he said, a one worded sentence that wasn’t leading into anything in an empty topic of conversation that hung heavy in the air.

They were in the guestroom, or rather, Theo’s room because that’s what Melissa had insisted it be called, for the third day straight, doing nothing and talking about nada.

Melissa had told him that she’d talked with his dad and he was free to stay over for a few more days, granted that he’d muster up the courage to come clean about everything to his parents eventually.

Liam was so relieved he could have hugged her. And he did.

But none of that helped with the situation with Theo at all. After the impromptu kiss the day Theo got out of the hospital, things had been really weird between them. They’d end up asleep in bed together; absolutely nothing happening from the moment they fell asleep to the moment they woke up in the morning, except that their eyes would open and their sense would return and they’d realize that they were in too close proximity with their arms around each other in an embrace that neither of them could leap out of quicker.

But for some reason it ended up happening consistently for the past three nights.

Scott was leaving the Friday at the end of the week which was barely four days away and Liam realized that he wasn’t looking forward to it at all.

He got used to Stiles’s absence, though not having his motor-mouth presence and biting sarcastic comments being thrown at him every other minute of every day had been a relief in the beginning, Liam got to a point where he actually missed having Stiles around being his insufferable cynical self.

He admittedly even got used to Hayden’s absence after a while, though there was still a small, annoying hole in a part of his soul that could never really be filled.

But Scott… Scott was different. Scott wasn’t only his Alpha, he was his mentor and his friend. The first person who actually put in effort to befriend Liam and to help him; the first person who learned about his I.E.D and didn’t mock him for it and didn’t make a big deal about it; the first person who didn’t lump him together with his disorder as if it was the only thing about him worth noting. Everyone else could only just see crazy Liam who wrecked his coach’s car and got mad at everything over nothing. Everyone else only acknowledge angry Liam who trashed the locker rooms and busted his own hand just because some asshole pissed him off.

Everyone else would only see his rage, but Scott only saw everything that was underneath it and Liam was going to miss having that foundation to stand on and that strong presence behind him to pick him up off the ground and dust him off.

That’s what drew him to Theo in the same breath. But unlike Scott, who tried to get Liam to rein in his anger and his rage, Theo always tried to push to him explode all while making him think about the stuff he was risking and the stuff he was giving up and making him really consider the true cost of his anger. With Theo, Liam knew everything he said was coming from a place of experience, from a place of regret because he could see it in his eyes. With Theo, Liam knew that he understood was Liam was feeling and the emotions that were raging through him because even though Theo hid it better even when he was a pawn for the Dread Doctors, Liam knew that the same kind of anger burned inside him as well; he just camouflaged it better.

With Stiles gone and with Scott leaving, at the very least, Liam took comfort in the fact that he’d still have Theo, though that last bit was still up in the air because Theo really was trying his best to make Liam want to strangle him with his own beanie.

Of all the billions of people in the world, he had to end up having feelings for that asshole.

The sudden, stilted silence that fell like a giant pink elephant right in the middle of the room was jarring.

Only then did Liam realize that he’d thought that very last bit _out loud._

“Hang on—what?” Theo said, giving Liam his absolute full attention even though just two second before he was busy pretending Liam was nothing more than part of the décor—an annoying part of the décor.

“What?” Liam responded with indignation, shrugging his shoulders noncommittally.

“I heard what you said,” Theo said, staring straight at Liam though this time Liam was the one doing his best to pretend that Theo wasn’t even there.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about—”

“Liam,” Theo interrupted.

“You’re dreaming, or you obviously need to check your hearing cause—”

“ _Stop_ ,” Theo nearly shouted. “Just… just stop,” he continued hesitantly. Liam shut his mouth abruptly with a painful snap that caused his teeth to rattle and the vibration inside his skull causing him to be lightheaded for a second. “Did you mean that?” Theo asked; his tone serious and his eyes were searching Liam’s for any sign of… Liam didn’t even know what; deception, maybe, or it being a joke.

It wasn’t a joke and Liam wanted to come right out and say it, but he just couldn’t find the words. “It’s… it’s not a lie,” he said, and that was the best thing he could say because he really didn’t understand the situation himself. Everything was just too confusing. Theo was too confusing. The situation was confusing _and disconcerting_ and Liam hadn’t even had time to really grasp the enormity of it all.

“Oh,” Theo said. His face didn’t fall and his tone didn’t change and he didn’t seem upset or ecstatic either way and Liam really couldn’t read anything into his response whatsoever.

“ _Oh_?” Liam stated. “That’s all you have to say?” Theo shrugged which raised Liam’s hackles sevenfold. He really wanted to punch something—or _someone_ , preferably the person standing right in front of him. “You’re an asshole.” He moved to step around Theo immediately to stomp his way out the room, down the stairs and away from the house and away from Theo before he did something he’d regret.

“ _Wait_ —” Theo said, reaching out to grasp Liam by the elbow as he pushed his way past. “Liam, wait—hang on a minute, please. I’m sorry—I-I didn’t mean that.”

Liam took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose, closing his eyes and forcing himself to calm down. Theo didn’t push him or rush him and he appreciated that, even though he definitely wasn’t going to tell him that. “Then what, Theo? What did you mean? What do you _want_? I’ve been trying to figure that out for ages but you’re really not helping out _any_ ,” he said, turning around to glower at Theo whose face fell a little the moment Liam turned to face him.

“I… I…” Theo stuttered out, tearing his eyes away to look at the ground though his grasp remained firm on Liam’s arm.

Liam allowed the silence to continue for a while, until it got to a point where it didn’t seem like Theo was going to continue at all. “Forget it,” he scoffed, pulling his arm out of Theo’s grip and turning around to march out.

“I want _you_ , Liam,” Theo nearly shouted, halting Liam immediately. A sigh. “I’ve always wanted you,” he continued.

Liam could only stare and blink and stare and blink in succession and not much else. His heart was pounding in his chest and his hands clenched in a tight fist felt clammy. He didn’t dare turn around.

The moment hung between them though neither of them moved to break the monotony.

It was Liam who took the initiative first. “I… I hated you,” he said, unsurely, “For the longest time. You were evil and terrible and the biggest asshole I’ve ever met.” Theo wasn’t moving at all behind him, but he was barely inhaling oxygen while waiting for Liam to continue; his heart pounding just a fervently as Liam’s. “But… But somehow—for some reason, I just… at some point I realized that—that I wanted you too.” He finished and finally turned to face Theo.

The stilted silence continued but it wasn’t awkward and it wasn’t uncomfortable, it was quiet; only the sound of Liam and Theo breathing almost in unison, their eyes locked onto one another, unblinking and the tension hanging between them like it was held by taut wires.

This time it was Theo who moved first. Taking one step closer and then another, bringing him close into Liam’s personal space but his nearness was a welcome presence. They stood nearly eye to eye though Theo was a couple of inches taller.

This time Theo’s hands found the side of Liam’s jaw first; his palm running across the prickly surface of his chin and his jawline and trailing down his neck, causing Liam to let out an involuntary shudder at the feathery touch.

Liam couldn’t help himself, his eyes involuntarily glanced away from Theo’s eyes down to his lips; the memory of the kiss still fresh on his mind came at him like a battering ram and he let out a shuddering exhale.

Theo’s eyes were always full of emotion; everything he was feeling in the moment a person could tell from his eyes, it was even true back before the hole, back before he returned for redemption. Even when his emotions were faked, even when it was put on for show, it was always an emotion he outwardly expressed so well because it was genuine. He played his part so well because he felt all the emotions; he manipulated it to his advantage, sure, but they were still feeling that lay dormant deep inside him, just waiting to be unlocked.

There was so much emotion in Theo’s gaze right them; the way he looked at Liam like he never wanted to look at another human being again, that seeing Liam in front of him, within reaching distance; feeling his warm skin in his touch and feeling his presence in the moment corporeal and real; it was enough for Theo then and it was enough for Liam knowing that he wasn’t standing on a one way street with his emotions.

He reached up with his right hand, mirroring Theo’s pose, cupping Theo’s cheek in his palm and gently stroking his cheekbone with his thumb. “I want _you_ , Theo Raeken,” he said. He was never one for those sappy confession type moments, but right then, in that moment with Theo, it just felt right.

“I want you too,” Theo said. His hand still gently caressing the side of Liam’s jaw before reaching across his shoulder, leaning forward slightly to burrow himself in Liam’s embrace, his other hand reaching across his back, grasping on tight and Liam just circled his arms around his torso in return and held him.

Things were just… confusing. Theo was confusing. The whole situation was confusing, but there was one thing that wasn’t confusing at all; the fact that Liam was undeniably falling in love with him.

**Tbc.**


	12. Just Another Not Date with a Side of Kidnappings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys remain the most awesome readers a writer could ever wish to have ❤️

Liam’s first love was Hayden and even though he didn’t gave it much thought at the time he wouldn’t have imagined that his first actual date would be with someone other than her.

Scott was leaving in two days and Liam was about to go on his very first date.

And it was with Theo.

Well, technically it wasn’t a _date_ -date, it was just a chore-date, a task Melissa had set out for them because it was high time Theo got back out into the world and rejoin civilization; to stop locking himself away in his room, only emerging when Melissa would march up the stairs and physically drag him out for dinner or breakfast, whichever meal of the day she was around for. Liam would usual trail after them like a puppy, all wide eyed and floppy eared.

If Scott was at all uneasy about his family of two all of a sudden becoming a family of three plus Liam, he didn’t show it. If fact, it seemed like he even enjoyed it. Well, as much as he could enjoy anything since his default mode seemed to be perpetual anxiety over his imminent departure from his home and his mother, to venture out into the world and finally become an adult.

At least that was what Liam credited it to. It was why Scott was away that day; Malia had dragged him out and away from obsessively going over his packed things to make sure he hadn’t left anything behind and stressing out over nothing. But the phone conversation he’d overheard the night before painted an entirely different picture.

It was between Melissa and the person he assumed to be Argent. He’d noticed the older man’s absence since after Theo was released but hadn’t given it much thought. He didn’t seem like the settling down in one place kind of guy anyway. But the call, the hushed tone Melissa had used and the way she kept surreptitiously checking her surroundings to make sure no one was listening in – obviously, forgetting that Liam didn’t need to be in the vicinity to listen in: he was in the closet instead and safely out of sight, was rather suspect. It wasn’t like he went down with the intention of eavesdropping. He’d actually gone down for a glass of milk while Theo was asleep and the instinct to hide just sort of came naturally when he heard Melissa’s footsteps walking out into the living room, the scent of nervousness and anxiety radiation off her in waves.

He wasn’t sure what it was about but he definitely heard something about mutilated bodies turning up across the country; suspected animal attack victims. But the fact that Scott had asked Argent to go investigate meant that there was definitely more to the story than just random animal kills and because it seemed to concern Scott so much, and because inevitably everything associated with them usually turned out to be anything other than ordinary; Liam deduced that it must definitely have been something supernatural related.

But then Melissa caught him snooping and sent him back up to Theo’s room _without_ his milk. But he couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation the entire night which accounted for his lack of sleep and the wide yawn he let out the moment he stepped into the passenger seat of Theo’s truck.

“You didn’t sleep last night?” Theo asked, pulling the door close and sitting back, just eyeing Liam curiously.

“Not so much,” he admitted. “I overheard Melissa and Argent on the phone and I couldn’t stop thinking about what they were talking about the whole night.”

“What were they talking about?” he asked interestedly.

“Murders—or, supposed animal killings across the country. Apparently bodies were turning up in other counties that officials were chalking up to a massive influx of predator attacks. But since Scott sent Argent to check it out, it must mean it’s more than that,” he said. Surprising himself by how easy it felt to just be completely truthful with Theo about the topic.

Theo didn’t answer but he looked thoughtful. “Did you hear anything else?”

“Nah, Melissa caught me listening in and glowered me all the way back up the stairs. And here I thought Scott’s Alpha eyes came from the _werewolf_ side,” he mused as an afterthought. The chuckle Theo let out was worth it though. “I’m sure Scott will tell us if it’s something of concern though,” he added. “So where we off to first?”

Theo’s eyes surveyed him a bit too intently and Liam tried not to blush or look away under the intensity. “Not sure if Melissa sent us out for anything of importance. I think she just wanted us out of the house.”

This time it was Liam’s turn to chuckle. “Can’t blame her though. You’re terrible company.” They hadn’t even pulled out of the driveway to begin their day and already Liam was feeling emotionally and physically tired, and Theo hadn’t even done anything besides stare at him and looking so completely enthralled by what he had to say. It was annoying. Theo was annoying. “Can you just start driving please!” he barked, tearing his own eyes away and motioning towards the open road before them. He could feel the intensity of Theo’s smirk before he torn his own eyes away and put the truck in gear, pulling out of the front of the McCall house to begin their undoubtedly long and tiring day.

Theo was a tiring human being after all.

They spent an hour at the junction arguing about which road was the quickest route and which supermarket was the best choice.

It definitely wasn’t the best start to the day.

But after stopping off for lunch and the two awkward minutes they spent scrambling at the counter after they realized that neither of them actually brought any money before Theo noticed a crisp twenty dollar bill folded inside a note between the cash and the grocery list with the words _‘for lunch’_ written in Melissa’s handwriting, the rest of the trip carried on in a much smoother manner.

Liam definitely developed a new found respect for his mom and Melissa and other people who did grocery shopping as a regular thing because that shit was complicated. Theo was at much more ease with it that Liam would have expected, because he’d already made his way down a third of the list when Liam was still trying to figure out the difference between tomato paste, tomato sauce and tomato puree. Theo’s chuckle that he could hear from all the way down the aisle didn’t help _at all._

“This is so complicated,” he moaned, turning to face the approaching Theo with a can of puree in one hand and a can of diced tomatoes in the other—or were they just peeled?

“It’s not though,” he said, too frustratingly nonchalant for Liam’s liking.

“The list just said _canned tomatoes_ ,” he grumbled. “ _But what kind_? Diced or pureed or crushed or paste or _what_? I don’t understand what this list wants!”

Theo calmly put aside the basket, walked over to Liam and took the two cans out of his hand, maneuvering him away from the canned goods aisle to cool off for a moment. “Relax, Liam. It’s not a big deal. From the looks of it, Melissa is planning on making a stew, so the best bet would to just go with the paste.” He put back the two cans and grabbed one from the lower level shelf, placed it in the basket and straightened up like it was no big deal whatsoever.

“I hate you,” he said with a growl, glaring at Theo who just smirked in response.

“No you don’t.”

He really didn’t, it was true. But it didn’t help his frustration at that moment at all. Instead he took a different route, forcing himself to inhale and exhale to a beat he could only hear inside of his mind to calm himself down. “Why are you so good at this? And how do you know she’s making a stew?”

That wiped the smirk clean from Theo’s face almost immediately and Liam instantly regretted his words. But Theo didn’t look especially upset; he looked unnerved but more on the thoughtful side.

“I used to do the grocery shopping at my house,” he said simply.

“For uh… your parents?” Liam dared to ask, looking at Theo intently.

“At my _old_ house,” he said, willing Liam to understand the insinuation so he didn’t have to elaborate, and Liam did.

His old house. His house when he lived in Beacon Hills the first time. Liam never really got the whole story of what happened there and what happened to Theo that led the Dread Doctors to his doorstep, but it was obviously still a sensitive subject for Theo and he doubted that it would ever not be.

“Oh… did you make the stew as well?” he asked, willing the cheerfulness into tone to lighten the mood.

Theo was silent for a beat. “No…” he started, “My sister did,” he said and Liam genuinely didn’t know how to react in that moment. He wanted to slap himself. But after a while Theo turned to him, his eye slightly glossy but he regarded Liam with a wistful look. “She would have liked you,” he said, “And you would have liked her too.”

Liam _really_ didn’t know what to say to that. He was simultaneously touched beyond words and at the same time, feeling like he was just put in the center of the brightest spot light in the middle of the lacrosse field _naked_. It was very awkward.

“O-O-Oh—thanks… I guess. I mean—I’m sure I would have liked her,” he stuttered out. “She would most definitely have been an improvement on you,” he said almost automatically, feeling the words just slip out before he could even really think of what was coming out of his mouth.

But Theo just laughed, not just a chuckle but an outright laugh this time, wiping the pensive look from his face and the brooding cloud from his shoulders and alleviating the tension in room by several folds.

“I guess you wouldn’t have had to deal with me that much in that scenario,” he said, his tone slightly teasing which Liam found encouraging.

“Oh, I don’t know. I suppose I’ve gotten used to dealing with your ugly mug every day,” he replied; a small smile tugging at his own lips which encouraged Theo’s own to emerge as well.

“I guess it’s true what they say: that every relationship can only have _one_ hot one,” Theo said, and he said it so casually and so nonchalantly which was obviously his intent because he walked off immediately after without giving Liam a chance to reply—or to really process what he said—or to even do anything other than sputter out an incoherent ‘ _Huh?_ ’; leaving Liam in his wake and red-faced spluttering mess stewing in his own thoughts, unable to pick which aspect of the sentence to focus on first: the relationship bit or the part where Theo called him the hot one or just…trying to make sense of everything.

“Theo, you…you— _asshole_!”

His reply was just the sound of Theo’s amused laughing disappearing up the aisle.

On any other day Liam would have been thankful to hear the sound, but in that instance, with his face the same shade of red as his t-shirt and the rows of canned tomatoes framed behind him like a renaissance painting; Liam could only concentrate on not tackling Theo to the ground and punching him in his stupid face.

He was relieved that Theo seemed like he was finally on the mend emotionally and mentally as well.

He was _not_ happy that it was at his own expense.

It had only been three hours and already it felt like a lifetime in dealing-with-Theo-years.

The smile that slowly and sheepishly tugged at the corner of his lips was absolutely not intentional.

Not intentional at all.

The afternoon turned out to be the longest he ever spent in the grocery section of the supermarket, and even though he’d rather tear out his own tongue than admit it, it was also the most fun he'd spent in a supermarket with another guy. But then again, it wasn’t just another guy… it was Theo, and Theo was simultaneously the best and worst thing that ever happened to him.

They loaded the stuff into the back of Theo’s truck and once again found themselves inside the unmoving vehicle arguing about the best route to take back to Scott’s house. They eventually settled on Theo’s way because as he’d said: driver’s choice, and Liam was left to brood in the passenger seat trying not to pout petulantly because that only seemed to amuse Theo further.

Perhaps a small part of him (a teensy, _miniscule_ part) was doing it all intentionally just to get that reaction out of Theo.

“Do you mind if he stopped somewhere first?” Theo’s question shook him out of his thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, sure—I mean, no, I don’t mind. Carry on,” he said.

Instead of turning right at the intersection that would take them back to Scott’s place, Theo took a left onto the road leading out of town. Liam was curious but he didn’t ask any questions. He knew that Theo would tell him eventually. Not like he could keep his destination a secret anyway considering that Liam was in the car with him.

Unless Theo planned to ditch him somewhere, then they were definitely going to have a problem.

“Relax, Liam,” Theo said. “I’m not going to kick you out of the car and go do anything illegal.”

Liam spluttered out a pathetic denial of his claims but it was futile, Theo could probably smell the apprehension rolling off him in waves. Liam looked to Liam who had taken his eyes off the road and was glancing at him with a peculiar look in his eye and the small smile wiped from his face.

“I know,” he said. “I trust you.”

The words seemed to startle Theo because he turned immediately back to the road and didn’t glance back at Liam even once for the rest of the drive.

Liam had a vague inkling as to where they were headed about three quarters the way there but he pretended not to notice, instead keeping his attention on the scenery of the woods rushing past his window. He kept his gaze averted even when they pulled off the main road and into the dusty trail leading further into the forest. He didn’t say anything when Theo stopped or when he heard him putting the truck in park and leaned back in his seat with a nervous sigh.

“Do you know where we are?” he asked without turning to look at Liam, which made Liam’s decision to nod his response rather redundant.

“Yeah. I came with Stiles that night, remember?” he said.

“I do remember. I was just wondering whether you did,” Theo said, his tone steady and straight forward though Liam could feel the apprehension radiating off him.

“What are we doing here?” he asked after a moment passed in silence.

Theo didn’t answer immediately, but when he did, his tone was tinged with uncertainty. “I… I don’t know,” he admitted. “I just—felt like I needed to come.”

Liam just nodded. It felt like the best response.

Theo didn’t move from his seat and Liam didn’t try to force him to. It was something Theo needed to do for himself and Liam knew he’d do it when he was ready.

He’d counted two thousand, seven hundred and forty-two seconds before Theo finally shifted beside him, reaching over for the door handle and stepping out of the truck. He followed suit immediately after.

The walk was slow and uneventful. He kept in step with Theo the whole way but neither of them spoke a word or attempted to make conversation. Theo needed his presence more than anything else, he could feel that and it was something he was willing to give freely.

He made sure to avoid the hole this time though, because that situation would have been both awkward and inappropriate.

Just as they were rounding the massive tree when the small obscure bridge came into view, Liam fell back slightly, letting Theo walk on ahead. He’d seen a bushel of flowers off to the side, growing out through the moss in the side of the brush and took a chance to grab a few buds before Theo noticed the lack of presence beside him. It took him barely a second and he was back beside Theo before he could even let out the breath he’d been holding as he made his was across the small bridge to stand at the very center leading against the ratty wooden railing.

Liam walked up to him, taking his position by Theo’s left elbow, holding out one of the two small white flowers he’d picked from the bush.

Theo looked taken aback for a moment; his eyes glossy with tears that were beginning to pool, but his gaze was full of emotion and gratitude and all of it was directed at Liam. Liam spared him a small smile that wasn’t reciprocated but the look on Theo’s face was reaction enough.

Both of them stood side by side looking down at the shallow creek below; the water level was down, reaching barely midway up the side. Liam didn’t turn to look at Theo, but out of the corner of his eye he could see him plant a small kiss in the center of the flower petals, whispering something into it that wasn’t for Liam’s ears and reach out to drop it into the water below. It barely made a splash but caused a rippling effect all the way to the banks and stayed afloat in the same spot without moving, just gently turning in place on the sparkling surface.

Liam didn’t kiss the flower or whisper any words of into the petals, he just mimicked Theo’s action, reaching out release it from it hand; watching mesmerized as it descended slowly, twisting slightly in the air like an open umbrella caught in the wind before reaching the surface of the water and falling within touching distance of Theo’s own flower.

Neither of them said a word, but slowly, Liam reached out to circle his arm across the small of Theo’s back, pulling him close in a half embrace. The sun rays were shining down through the canopy of leaves above head and the sound of distant birds chirping in the distance was almost calming.

“Tell me about your sister,” he said finally.

Theo stayed silent for a pause, though Liam could hear the sound of his heart skipping a beat when he asked the question. “She… she took care of me,” he said, “When no one else would, when our parents were too busy or too drunk. She raised me, she fed me, she made sure I could grow up a kid and stay one as long as I could.” Theo didn’t move or react much, but tears were trickling slowly down his cheek but he made no move to wipe them away. “She was good and kind… she was… she was everything an older sister should be, and she didn’t deserve what happened to her. She deserved to live instead of me… she… she deserved to be alive—she didn’t deserve to suffer the way she did.”

Liam didn’t know what to say. He had nothing to say. But perhaps Theo didn’t need him to say anything, because he slowly leaned into the embrace, burrowing his face in the crook of Liam’s neck; his arms snaking around his stomach, holding on tight. Liam circled his own arms around Theo’s shoulders and held on just as firmly and allowed the privacy and silence he needed as he sobbed into his chest.

After the three-thousandth second Liam’s inner clock stopped counting how long they stayed in the embrace on that little bridge overlooking the stream down below and the two little white flowers rippling on the surface of the water. But soon it was dusk, with the light of day giving way to the slowly blanketing darkness with the sound of retreating birds in the distance flying off towards the horizon.

“We should get back,” Theo said, though he made no attempt to pull out of the embrace.

“I’m sure Melissa will survive without her canned tomatoes for a little while longer,” Liam said, both to ease Theo’s mind and because he was pretty hesitant himself to break the contact. Theo was very warm and he felt very comfortable having Theo’s body almost molded to his and his strong arms around his torso.

Theo’s muffled chuckle was a good sign. Liam smiled.

Slowly Liam shifted, gently easing himself out of the hug. All of a sudden the sunset chill was absolutely freezing with Theo’s body so far away from his, but he relented. Their bodies separated hesitantly, but their hands remained on each other; Liam grasping Theo’s shoulders in a firm grip and Theo’s hands still resting on his hip.

“Come on,” Liam said, sliding one hand down the length of Theo’s arm and grabbing onto his hand, beckoning him to follow as he lead the way into the dankest part of the forest.

“Where are we going?” Theo asked, though he fell in step with Liam easily.

“You’ll see,” Liam said with a lopsided smile.

They walked for maybe twenty minutes, through the scrub brush and the trees as the darkness continue to fall over the forest, blanketing Beacon County in complete darkness. Eventually it was only them, walking through the shadowy canopy of the trees, looking up at the stars hanging in the sky above their heads and the crescent moon in the distance watching over them like a silent guardian.

“We’re here,” Liam announced finally as they walked out from between two tree into an opening that spread generously across the landscape before giving way to the cliffside edge and the massive drop down to a painful rocky ending. But beyond that was just the sky, speckled with stars shining like a small beacons against the great darkness, overlooking the town of Beacon Hills sitting down below. It looked like a regular town from the distance; the lights emanating from windows of buildings and houses and the honking cars passing by under the streetlights. It was nothing at all like the true picture of Beacon Hills where monsters dwelled and supernatural atrocities happened on the regular.

In that moment, under that sky, with Theo staring in wonder beside him and his heart feeling lighter and warmer than it had felt in a long time, the only word he could think about to describe the scene before his eyes was _beautiful_. “Beautiful isn’t it?” he found himself asking, his eyes staring out into the distance.

“Yes it is,” Theo answered. Liam nodded without turning to look at him. When he found nothing but silence after that and the eerie feeling of someone’s eyes on him, he finally turned his gaze to look at Theo and his gaze locked firmly on him and not to horizon or the brightly shining stars reflecting the town down below like a mirror. Instead, Theo’s gaze was on him, like he’d been staring at Liam the whole time. “Absolutely gorgeous,” he added without breaking eye contact, leaving Liam at a complete loss of words.

Liam never figured himself as the blushing damsel kind. At least, he wasn’t before he met Theo, but the guy had the inane ability to both piss him off and make him feel like his heart was about to burst out of his chest every single time. It was quite the ability—the annoying kind, and Liam half hated how it always seemed to affect him a certain way, which is turn him into a stuttering, incoherent fool.

“Come on.” This time it was Theo who took him by the hand and led him over to the large rock rooted into the side of the cliff, staring down at the long drop beyond. He let go to climb onto the smooth surface atop it, settling down comfortably and motioning for Liam to join him at his side, which he did slightly more hesitantly.

“I’ve never been one for heights if I have to be honest,” Liam said when he reached Theo’s side, settling down apprehensively and trying to find something to hold onto more securely.

“You?” Theo asked. “Aren’t you always jumping off of high places?”

“Well… that’s different. That’s as werewolf Liam and I’m… well, I’m just lil’ ol’ Liam,” he said. “I know I’ll heal but… well, the journey down is definitely not fun.”

Theo smiled at that. “I’m not one for heights either,” he admitted. “I prefer to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground.”

“That’s how I was turned actually,” Liam said before he actually even meant to do so. “I was hanging off the side of the hospital roof—it was a wendigo, I think—Scott bit me to keep me from falling.” Liam realized that it was the first time he’d ever told the story out loud. The pack obviously knew because…well, it’s the _pack_. Melissa and the Sheriff knew because they’re Melissa and the Sheriff. Chris Argent always just seemed to know stuff, so that was no surprise. He still hadn’t been able to muster up the courage to tell his parents about his… condition… so he’d kind of been spared having to tell the story. And having actually said it aloud to Theo in that moment, he realized that it wasn’t as sore a spot as he thought it would be, having to say it aloud.

Sure it was kind of a bummer becoming a werewolf and everything; all the danger aspect that came with it. But at the same time, if he hadn’t gotten bit, he never would have become part of the pack. He never would have had what he had with Hayden. He never would have met Stiles and Malia and Kira and Braeden and Derek and Melissa. He never would have met Scott. He’d always been an only child and Scott had become like the big brother he never knew he wanted.

And if he hadn’t been turned into a werewolf, he never would have met Theo.

So all in all, it turned out not to be such a bad thing after all.

“Tell me about your family,” Theo said after they’d settled in. “Do they know?”

Liam exhaled once, glancing out at the town down below, shaking his head. “My stepdad…” he started, trailing off unsurely. “He was uhh… one in a long line of boyfriends actually, after my dad left. My mom went through guy after guy before she met my stepdad, and before he came along, every single one of her relationships failed because of me.” Liam didn’t turn to look at Theo as he was speaking but he could sense his attention focused completely on his words. “It was before I got diagnosed. I was getting into fights with classmates at school and with teachers and with my mom’s boyfriends. It was bad enough that they were with a woman with a kid, but especially one like _me_. All of them just couldn’t take it. They’d leave after a few weeks or a few months, always giving my mom the ‘I’m sure there’s a better person for you out there speech’ but it was obvious what they meant was ‘you’ll find someone better who can deal with your little brat.’ I mean, it didn’t bother me, they were douchebags anyway but… but she’d always end up so sad every time it happened and I could always see how much she pretended it didn’t hurt but would end up crying in the bathroom when she thought I wasn’t around.

“My stepdad was… well, he was the first one who dealt with me when I got into a fight who didn’t start yelling at me for being such a troublemaker. He’s actually the one who told my mom about the disorder and he got me referred to the specialist to get officially diagnosed. But most importantly, he’s the only one who stuck around, not just for my mom, but for me too.”

“He sounds like a good guy,” Theo said when Liam finished.

“He is,” Liam admitted with a small smile.

“Are you going to tell them?” he continued.

Liam just shrugged. He really didn’t know. “It’s a tough pill to swallow though. Bad enough you have a kid with anger issues and he turns out to be a werewolf on top of that? They’ll think I’ve gone mad.” It wasn’t the complete truth though. The werewolf issue was only part of it; he was scared that they’d start looking at him differently, that their look would be tainted with fear… with disgust. Liam didn’t fear much but he feared that. “What about you?” he turned to Theo, pulling a knee up to his chest and leaning back to rest on his arms stretched behind his back.

Theo returned his gaze, blinking only once before he looked away; mimicking Liam’s earlier action to stare out over the town. “There’s no happy ending in my story though,” he said somberly, causing Liam to straighten up before reaching over to cover Theo’s hand with his. The move seemed to succeed in comforting him. He subconsciously turned his palm upwards to get a better grasp on Liam’s hand before he continued. “My family was one of those… perfect looking ones on the outside, you know? Nice house, picket fence; good jobs, good grades, you know… the works. Behind the smoke and mirrors though… well…” A smile came onto his face then, a small melancholic one. Liam subconsciously grasped on tighter. “You can probably imagine the rest. The Dread Doctors…I guess, they just showed up at the right time and said the right words and I was stupid enough to walk right into it.”

“You were a kid,” Liam said.

“Doesn’t matter. It doesn’t excuse what I did— _everything_ I did… what I turned into,” he said, shaking his head sadly.

“Whatever it is, whatever you _were_ , the only thing that matters is the person you are now; the person you’re trying to be,” he said, leaning forwards to get into Theo’s line of sight. It seemed to do the trick because Theo finally turned to look at him. His eyes were glassy and almost sparkling under light of the moon hanging above their heads.

“I killed Scott,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “I killed Tracy and Josh. I tried to kill all of you for my own personal gain.”

“I’m not saying that what you did was okay, but… Tracy and Josh wouldn’t even have been alive if it wasn’t for you. Neither would Hayden and Corey. As for Scott, you know who else tried to kill him? Deucalion... Peter… _Stiles_ —sure, it wasn’t technically _Stiles_ -Stiles, but you get what I mean; Malia, probably, because Malia tries to kill everyone at least once. Derek tried to kill Lydia once—What I mean is… we’ve all done stupid stuff and we’ve all tried to kill each other at least once. So, what’s once more?” he said with a teasing grin. “Besides, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m pretty sure Scott isn’t holding a grudge.”

That drug out a small smile and a half chuckle from Theo.

“You know, you’re smarter than people give you credit for,” Theo said.

“I guess I’m just full of surprises,” Liam said.

“You are,” Theo said, his expression turning somber again, but leaning more towards the thoughtful kind, causing to Liam to once again lose the ability to form words. But it didn’t matter, they’d said all they needed to say, and the silence was a welcoming presence.

It was nearing ten o’clock before they finally made their way back to the truck; almost ten hours since they left the house to go on the simple shopping trip _,_ and if Melissa was hoping to make stew for supper that night, then both Theo and Liam were in for a long night of apologizing and maybe a little groveling. But aside from that, it had been more than a productive day for both of them, and they drove out of the forest back onto the main road with their hearts lighter and their consciences clearer and the smile a little bit brighter on both their faces.

So when Liam said, “I think I should go home tonight. Just… to see my parents; let them know I’m okay and… maybe it’s time we had that talk, you know?” it just felt like a natural progression.

Theo just nodded with a simple okay though Liam could the slight spike of apprehension radiation off him, and he was pretty sure Theo could sense the same about him. But both of them knew that it was the right time. Theo was on the mend, and even though he didn’t realize it was a journey he was on as well, so was Liam.

They stayed in the truck for a little while after Theo pulled into a spot on the street in front of his house. The light downstairs was on which meant that at least one of his parents was still up. A small part of Liam wished it was his dad because he needed a good night sleep (or _ten_ ) to be prepared to deal with his mom.

“I change my mind,” he said finally. “Let’s just go back to Scott’s. I’ll check in with my parents tomorrow… in the day time… when there are witnesses around.”

Theo laughed at that. “No. Better to rip the band aid off quickly. Besides, you already made me drive all the way out here.”

Liam glared at Theo; the seriousness of his intent was kind of lost though because of the pout he had on his face. “I thought you cared about me?”

“I do. But you still need to deal with your parents sooner or later.”

“I hate you,” Liam said.

“No you don’t,” Theo replied, attracting another glare.

Theo continued staring at him while his face was turned towards the house, Liam could feel his eyes on the back of his head, and he finally turned to face him when he felt Theo shift in driver’s seat. He turned around just in time to catch Theo leaning in, his hand on the side of his cheek and his lips cool and soft on Liam’s own.

The kiss was short and chaste and there were no _hands_ , but it was what Liam needed to calm his fraying nerves.

“Thanks,” he muttered; his tongue flicking out to lick at his lips, tasting the remnants of _Theo_ on his mouth.

Theo spared him a lopsided grin. “Anytime. Now get out and go be a good son.”

Liam sighed and groaned at the same time, pulling the lever of the door a little too hard and showing the door open with a bit too much petulance but there was no real anger in his heart.

He could feel Theo’s eyes on him, following him all the way up the path, up the steps of his porch and right up to his front door where he finally turned around, raising his hand up to give a sarcastic wave back and hoping that Theo could see his disgruntled expression from all the way over there. Judging from his laughter, he obviously could.

Theo blew him one final kiss before putting his truck into gear and driving off, and Liam watched his tail lights until he disappeared into the distance. He finally exhaled then, all of a sudden feeling a massive wave of loneliness washing over him. But he steeled himself, gripped his hands tight and turned around to enter his house.

It was a small yelping sound that distracted him, causing him to pause mid reach.

There was an elderly couple that lived next door with their overweight wiener dog-beagle mix named Gertie. It had a more professional scientific breed name, but Liam liked calling her Gertie the Weagle.

Liam met Gertie the first time when they just moved in and it was almost midnight, sleeping in his new, uncomfortable bed in the new uncomfortable suburban town, when he heard the distressed yelping coming from the neighbour’s back yard. He didn’t want to get caught trespassing, especially because of his record and the fact that he _had_ a record, but the yelping was so distraught and sad that he couldn’t stop himself.

He found the back half of the dog hanging out of the dog door, her short legs barely touching the floor and her round belly stuck between the flaps. He walked over cautiously and just gave the little dog a small nudge to free her and quickly made his way over the fence and back into his house hoping that no one had seen him creeping into the neighbour’s yard.

It didn’t happen the next night and no cops came knocking at his front door so he thought he was home free. Until a few days later when he was walking up the street to go meet Mason at the corner coffee shop and the old lady who’d been sitting in the chair on the front porch called out to him. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he walked up, trying to keep his panic under control and keeping his face as nonchalant as possible.

What he got instead of a scolding and the cops called on him was a plate of freshly baked cookies and the elderly couple showering him in thank you’s. Apparently it was something Gertie did regularly, but she’d gotten a little too wide and a little too old to get herself back into the house without help and most of the time one of them would have to drag their tired old bones all the way down the steps to free her. Liam’s help had been a god sent and they asked if he couldn’t mind helping out when he heard her yelping for help again and Liam was only too happy to oblige, which is why he found himself, almost eleven o’clock at night, climbing over the neighbour’s fence to help a pudgy little dog stuck in a door.

But the little dog wasn’t in the door. In fact, the little dog was nowhere in sight and the yelping barking sound was coming from somewhere in the wooded area behind the house.

Liam honestly didn’t think the little dog would have managed to get herself out through the gates and out of the compound, but there was still the sound and he’d made a promise to the couple to check on Gertie if he ever heard her in trouble.

That’s how he found himself back in a tree covered area for the second time that day, alone, in the dark, calling out for a dog named Gertie. He tried to catch a scent but there were just so many different smells that assaulted his senses that he didn’t even know where to begin, so he opted to just try and follow the sound of the yelping that was becoming progressively louder.

A rustle in the bushes somewhere to his right stopped him in his tracks and he cautiously called out the name one more time before all of a sudden there was an almost explosive impact that felt like something had barreled into him, sending him stumbling back and crashing into a tree. He slid down painfully to the ground trying to catch his breath. Whatever hit him knocked the air out of his lungs and it took him a while to regain his senses after that, but when he did, he realized that nothing had barreled into him—at least it definitely wasn’t a fat Weagle named Gertie. In fact, there was nothing at all and he couldn’t inhale oxygen into his lungs no matter how hard he tried.

All of a sudden there was an explosion of pain. The feeling hit him just as the clouds parted in the sky above, allowing a beam from the moonlight to shine down on the spot he was sprawled against and he unfolded his arms that had subconsciously wrapped around his midsection as a protective instinct.

His hands came away wet and dripping blood.

**Tbc.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As they say, all good thing must come to an end :D Anyway, 6.8K words of happiness just won't do, we all need some good old angst. What more than I say besides shit is finally hitting the fan :D


	13. Topic of Concern: Assassinations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, if The Beast can turn back from a shoe-less demon werewolf into a size 10 shoe wearing teenager, then my werewolves can totally turn back into a fully clothed person. Just sayin'.
> 
> Also all you guys remain awesome ❤️

It felt weird and strangely empty not having Liam by his side. His presence had been a constant for more than a week and the comfort he provided had been there for much longer. Not having Liam there, the sound of his heart constantly beating a steady rhythm, the sound of his breathing like a calming mantra, the feeling of safety and protection he afforded—it just felt wrong and Theo was on the verge of turning his truck around and driving back to pick him up and never let him out of his sight again. But it wasn’t fair to Liam and it wasn’t fair to his parents.

Liam had gone above and beyond for Theo so many times already, especially considering the sour state of his relationship in the beginning and Theo was always striving to prove to both Liam and Scott (and himself) that he was worth the trouble. It was hard, because deep down he didn’t think he was worth anything at all.

Melissa was working a double shift that night; he’d heard her mention it before she walked out the door that morning. He wasn’t sure if she’s said that to him or to Scott or to both, but it just meant that unless Scott was back from his brooding session with Malia, it was just going to be him and the groceries in the house for the night. He honestly didn’t mind, but after being with Liam’s company for so long, the thought of being by himself in the house that wasn’t his, surrounded by pictures of the family he didn’t deserve, everything about it just felt oddly lonely. But he didn’t mind that either, it was more than he really deserved.

He missed Liam, and it had barely been fifteen minutes since he pulled out of Liam’s driveway.

The drive back to the McCall’s house was done in silence with a lot of thinking. The actual driving itself was done almost on instinct because Theo pulled into the street down the way from the house before he even realized it. Even when he pulled into park in front of the path leading up to the house he didn’t move to step out. He needed time to gather his thoughts; something he hadn’t been able to do in ages; not since it all started, and definitely not since Liam managed to turn his brain into the consistency of mush. There really was more to him than people really gave him credit for.

The house was dark, not a single light on in any of the rooms which meant that Scott was definitely not in and Theo subconsciously let out a sigh of relief. He honestly wasn’t prepared to deal with Scott, or any of the pack for that matter, without Liam acting as the go-between. Melissa was a different case. She hadn’t been secretive with her anger at first, he could see that and truth be told, he kind of appreciated it. But she was also very open with her acceptance and her forgiveness and she always made a point to tell him as much when it was just the two of them alone. He felt comfortable with Melissa as he felt comfortable with Liam, for two completely different reasons.

The movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention because it was coming from the house, or rather, it was loitering on the front step trying to peek in through the blinds and it definitely _wasn’t_ Melissa or Scott. The scent was unfamiliar but it was definitely human and male; more than one person in fact, that second person he saw instead of sensed when the figure rounded the corner, obviously coming from somewhere in the back.

Theo dropped down to lie on the seat, out of sight, carefully peering out the corner of his window to what the two people were doing.

They conversed for a moment on the porch. Theo couldn’t hear what they were saying from that distance, but they were definitely arguing about something before the walked down the steps, across the lawn headed towards the obscure van with dark tinted windows parked across the road and down the street.

Theo’s eyes watched them as they passed his truck, his eyes continuing to follow them until they got to their own vehicle; pulled out of park and drove away without turning on their lights. He took a moment to just think. They definitely came looking for something—or someone… someone like Melissa. The name jarred something loose in his brain and he realized that their vehicle was headed in the direction of the hospital, so he quickly put his truck in gear and tried to think of a quicker route to get there since they already had a considerable head start on him.

He drove quickly, weaving in and out of traffic, hearing the blaring sound of people’s horns fading out as he passed. His other hand fumbling with his phone trying to call Scott or Liam or someone, but the cell service was down and the dial tone went almost immediately into an annoying beeping sound that made him was to slam his phone down on the dashboard. But he needed to keep his head and rein in his anger because it wasn’t going to be of use to anyone, at least not at that moment.

It was the sound of muffled screams that piercing through him like a lightning bolt the moment he pulled into the hospital. It wasn’t loud and it wasn’t even near, but somehow he zeroed in on it as all the other sounds in the vicinity melted into the background. It was coming from the parking lot out back so he floored the pedal of his truck, leaving tracks and making a piercing squeal when the tyres skidded on the cold asphalt as he pulled out.

He came on the scene just in time to see the two men dragging a struggling Melissa into the back of the van; her screaming muffled by the hand covering her mouth and her movement restricted by the arms around her torso, pinning her hands to her side and the other man trying to get a grasp on her still kicking feet.

Theo leaped out of the truck before it could come to a complete halt. In that moment everything else just faded away and his eyes could only see through a monotone tunnel vision tinged red. He paid no attention to anything his path, only the sound of his footsteps thundering in his ear repetitively; thudding and thudding and thudding until there was near silence and only the sound of padded paws and claws scraping on the ground. Suddenly he could hear everything and he could smell everything; all his senses were heightened several folds. He could almost taste the salt in the tears trickling down Melissa’s face and hear the sound of her heart pounding against her chest.

No one seemed to notice the ominous presence closing in on them until it was too late and Theo pounced before the two men could even fully turn around.

He heard Melissa’s startled cry when the man dropped her feet to the ground the moment Theo leaped onto him with all fours, but she was quick to recover, bringing her head back to slam against the face of the man holding her from behind.

His teeth clamped down on the man’s neck, not enough to tear the vocal chords out of his throat but enough to incapacitate him. He could taste the bitter tang of copper on his tongue, sending his instincts into hyper drive and he turned around immediately, attracted by the smell of blood pouring out of the other man’s nose. His jaws clamped down on his leg and tearing at it like a piece of raw chicken, eliciting a wail of agony that assaulted his ears like a bullhorn. The wounds weren’t fatal, or at least they wouldn’t be fatal if tended to quickly and luckily for them, they were in the parking lot of a hospital—the screaming commotion slowly but surely attracting a growing crowd of spectators.

At least it would give the sheriff department time to come and pick them up before they escaped.

He padded back, away from the grisly carnage and found Melissa leaning into the driver side and pulling out the key, actively switching off the vehicle and liberating them of their means to escape. She slid out and her eyes found him hanging back, hiding between two parked cars almost immediately. For a moment Theo didn’t know how to react, he didn’t know if Melissa even knew it was him and not just some random animal attack, but her eyes quickly slid over to his truck sitting haphazardly near the end of the lot, the lights still on and the engine still running and she seemed to put two and two together because she said, “Let’s go,” and took off running towards his truck.

Theo followed without word, reaching the truck before Melissa and changing back into his human form just as she reached him, jumping into the passenger seat without a second word.

“We have to call Scott,” she said; her eyes still teary and her heart still thundering, her hands shaking slightly as she fumbled with her phone.

“I tried, the phone lines are down,” he said, putting the car in reverse and tearing out of the hospital compound in a heartbeat.

Melissa leaned back in the seat, closing her eyes and struggling to catch her breath. It seemed like the enormity of the situation had finally just hit her. “Who were they?” she asked, opening her eyes to look at him.

Theo reached up to wipe the still warm blood from his chin, smearing it further across his chin and neck. His own hands were shaking and he gripped the steering wheel tighter. “I don’t know. I caught them scoping out your house when I got back. It seemed like they were looking for either you or Scott,” he said.

Melissa rubbed her hands on her face and took a slow deep breath, repeating the motion a few more times before she turned back to Theo, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. “And you came to warn me? They could have been after you too,” she said.

“I don’t think anyone knows I’m staying there for the time being, at least, I don’t think so. Besides, we don’t really know who they are or what they want,” he said. “Have you called the Sheriff?”

Melissa shook her head. “No. Like you said, the cell line’s down. But I’m sure someone from the hospital’s called the sheriff’s station by now. Let’s just hope the cell problem isn’t town wide.” Her expression turned thoughtful. “And Theo… _thank you_.”

Theo could feel the blush creeping onto his cheek which he tried to cover with a cough. “It’s nothing,” he said.

“It’s not nothing. You saved my life. I don’t think…uh—just… thank you,” she said, squeezing him slightly on the shoulder.

Theo turned to look at her briefly before quickly looking away, muttering a sheepish; “You’re welcome.”

“Get to the house,” Melissa said. “If this is what I suspect it is, I’m sure Scott is making their way there already.” She looked around the truck suddenly, as if just realizing the very apparent absence. “Where’s Liam?”

“He decided to go home—should… should I go pick him up??” he asked.

Melissa looked conflicted and Theo shared her worries. If it was just him, he’d be halfway to Liam’s already. But it wasn’t just him; he had Melissa to think about too. Liam’s house was quite a distance away from where they were, in the opposite direction of Melissa’s house, especially with the phone lines down and with no means of communicating with anyone. They could reach Melissa’s house first before even getting halfway to Liam’s and they needed to regroup and let Scott know what happened. It would be more dangerous than anything else to get caught out in the open without a plan or back up. Theo wasn’t one to worry about those little details, but he knew that he wouldn’t be of use to anyone if he got captured or ended up dead.

Plus if nothing else, he was confident in Liam’s ability to defend himself if it came to that.

“I think it’s better if we rendezvous at home first. Something could happen between here and there and it’s better if everyone is in the loop. Besides I’m sure Scott will find him immediately if there really is something happening.” Melissa looked as unsure as her tone suggested, but Theo couldn’t blame her. Both of them were on edge after what happened. There were things to focus on first but that didn’t ease the dark feeling in his gut telling him that something terrible was definitely happening in Beacon Hills, but he knew the best plan was to regroup and plan their next move.

He made Melissa wait in the truck as he canvassed the area first; making sure that there wasn’t any unwanted persons hiding in or around the compound. Only when he was absolutely sure that the coast was clear did he motion for her to step out of the truck and run over to him before making their way into the house.

The immediate first thing that hit him when they entered was the fact that they weren’t alone in the house, but the scent was familiar, friendly, which immediately eased his nerves.

They found Stiles and Lydia in the kitchen sitting in the dark. Stiles was pacing up and down nervously and kept walking over to the window to glance out at the street. Lydia was at the table with her head in her hands. Neither of them seemed to notice Melissa and Theo entering until Melissa cleared her throat, causing them to jump slightly.

“Melissa, thank god,” Stiles immediately rushed over, pulling her into a hug.

“Stiles, Lydia? What’s going on? Did they come for you too?” she asked.

That perked Stiles up. “So they did come for you? How did you get away?”

Melissa motioned to Theo standing silently by her side, his hands and face still smeared with blood and blood soaking the entire front of his shirt. “Theo saved me. He saw them canvassing the house and came to warn me. Just in time too. A few more seconds and… well…” she cleared her throat. “What about you two? Did people attack you as well?”

“No,” Stiles said, looking back at Lydia still sitting quietly at the table. “Lydia had a… well, _feeling_. All the phones were down and we couldn’t contact anyone so we came to the most neutral ground we could think of,” he explained. “ _Here_. Do you know where Scott is?”

Melissa shook her head.

There were sounds of shuffling footsteps by the door before it flew open and what sounded like a tangle of bodies falling through.

Theo rushed out, his claws bared but what he found was the door open and an empty hall.

He sighed. “I know it’s you, Corey.”

And the next minute, lo and behold, Corey and Mason materialized sprawled out on the floor in a tangle of limbs.

“Did they come looking for you too?” he asked when the two of them finally straightened up.

Mason shook his head and motioned to Corey. “Corey said he felt you calling him.”

“ _Me_?” he asked, bewildered.

“Not calling, per say… it was more of a… feeling actually,” Corey said.

“Why?” he asked again, still no less bewildered.

“It makes sense,” Mason interjected. “Your connection I mean. You did bring him back to life, so the supernatural bylaw must still technically consider you his Alpha. It’s pretty awesome if you think about it.”

Nothing about it was awesome at all, but he moved back into the kitchen, announcing to the occupants that it was just Corey and Mason and the four of them (including the still catatonic Lydia) resumed their silent watch in the darkness.

Theo eventually stepped back into the shadows, watching everyone around him conversing with each other in hushed whispers. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the sounds of his surrounding; trying to listen to the noises beyond the walls and trying to sense the reverberation in the ground. If more people were coming for them, he wanted to be ready; he wanted to know they were coming. He unlocked all his instincts, all the animalistic senses he possessed, blurring the line between his human self and his chimera self and utilizing everything the Dread Doctors had done to him, using all the enhancements they’d put into him.

The distant sound of a car engine headed in their direction caught his attention and his eyes flew open.

“There’s a car headed in this direction,” he said suddenly, causing Melissa, Stiles and Mason to stop whatever it was they were talking about and automatically duck out of sight, Corey moved to the table to sit beside Lydia, circling his arms around her shoulders while Stiles scrambled over to the small window to peek out at whoever was approaching.

His exhale of relief was a good sign. “It’s Scott and Malia,” he said before he pushed away from the window to go meet them at the door. Theo could sense the relief rolling off him in waves.

Melissa’s own relief was apparent and she almost cried.

Scott had one foot inside the door, his hand still on the handle and his voice worriedly calling out for his mom the moment he entered. When he saw Melissa, his smile just washed away all the apprehension that had been on taut in his shoulders before he rushed over to her, circling his arms around her and pulling her into a firm embrace. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” he said. “I was so worried.”

Even from the distance, Theo could smell the sweat and grime and blood that wafted off of Scott and Malia who’d just stumbled in through the door. It was obvious the people hadn’t just come for Melissa; they had come for Scott as well.

“It’s all thanks to Theo actually,” Melissa said when she pulled away. “They had me, and if Theo hadn’t showed up… I don’t know what would have happened.”

Scott’s smile dropped at her words and his eyes went immediately to Theo standing in the back in the shadow of the corner. Theo didn’t know how he was going to react, and the look he gave him was completely unreadable. But without word, Scott immediately marched over to where he was standing, grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into a firm hug. Pounding him on the back in what Theo thought was a thankful manner.

“Thank you,” he said into his ear, his voice almost cracking with emotion. “I don’t think I can ever thank you enough for what you did.”

“It’s… uh… it’s fine, Scott, really,” he said, patting Scott on the back hesitantly, not really knowing how to react.

“No, it’s more than just fine, Theo,” he said. “It’s my _mom_.”

“This is all very touching,” interrupted Stiles, “Truly, but can we continue this when—oh, I don’t know, when there aren’t a bunch of psycho people trying to kidnap and _murder_ our family and friends, hmm?” Stiles hmm’d pointedly; his arms stretched out to make a point. “How ‘bout it guys?”

“Stiles is right,” Melissa said, to which Stiles’s scoff of, “As usual,” could be heard being muttered in the background.

They made their way to the dinner table, gathering around it without taking seat as Stiles retreated to the kitchen to check on Lydia who was still lost in whatever trance she was in.

“What happened to you guys?” he found himself asking.

Scott turned his eyes to him and shared a look at Malia who was keeping watch by the window beside the door. “A group of them came after us. Maybe…seven or eight, dressed in black and camouflage with weapons. None of them smelled familiar but they were definitely human.”

By this time Stiles had walked back into the room, just in time to hear the last part of Scott’s comment. “So it was the two of your against an army?”

Scott exhaled once and shared a look with the still strangely silent Malia. “Not really. They literally came out of the trees, and we definitely would have been brought down if it wasn’t for—” he looked around confusedly when he was about to finish his sentence, obviously not finding whatever it was he was looking for before he rolled his eyes and said aloud to no one in particular. “Are you waiting to make a grand entrance?”

There was silence for beat as everyone looked around at each other trying to make sense of Scott’s words. Theo allowed himself to blend back into the background, just being a spectator in watching everything unfold. He felt so out of place in that moment, more so because Liam wasn’t there.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Stiles said, disgruntled. “Or rather, who are you talking to? There’s no one else in—”

Suddenly there was male voice coming from somewhere behind the front door that Theo didn’t recognize. “I came all the way back here for you, you bet I’m going to make a fucking entrance,” it said, and the tone was casual enough conversing with Scott that Theo was sure it was someone he knew.

Stiles’s seemed to figure it out at the same time he did and if his groan and massive eye roll was any indication, the newcomer _definitely_ had some sort of history with Scott and Stiles.

Scott chuckled through it though. “Guys,” he announced, turning half around to motion to the front door just as it swung open and a tall, curly haired guy strutted in. Theo looked around at the rest of the faces in the room; Melissa beamed, Stiles rolled his eyes but Mason and Corey both looked just as confused as he was. “Meet Isaac,” Scott said. “Isaac Lahey.”

**Tbc.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A. Surpise! :D Did I mention that this story has evolved from being my Theo whump fantasy into being my fantasy headcanon come true for the show? And obviously my biggest gripe on the show was the lack of Isaac in the finale (Damn you, Daniel Sharman!") 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed that appearance and rest assured, this is only the start. It's my own private challenge to myself on how many characters can I introduce/or reintroduce into the story before I start crying tears of regret into my sandwich.
> 
> Also I probably blue the lines as to where Isaac Lahey ends and where Daniel Sharman begins because I feel like this interpretation of Isaac is more of what I see of Daniel in con videos.


	14. Isaac Lahey, Zombie Hunter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bam! Surprise :D Earlier than usual update today because you guys are all beyond amazing and I love you all. Also if you're happy with the Isaac appearance last chapter, then hopefully you'll be as happy/even more so by the appearances in this chapter. It's totally not me trying to distract you from all the bad things that are happening to everyone's favourite grumpy beta, nope - it's not it at all.
> 
> I am made of pure innocence I will do no such thing :)

“Meet Isaac,” Scott said. “Isaac Lahey.”

Melissa seemed happy enough to see him if her squeal of delight was a sign and she rushed over to give him a big hug.

“Isaac,” Scott turned to the guy just as Melissa let him out of the hug and stepped back, “This is Theo,” he motioned to him. Theo just raised an awkward hand up in greeting. “And you met Malia,” he said, motioning to Malia still standing apart from them with his thumb. “And Mason and Corey.”

“Wait,” Mason said suddenly, “ _The_ Isaac Lahey?” he asked excitedly.

“You know him?” Corey asked.

“Well… I know _of_ him,” Mason exclaimed, and Theo could see Isaac almost beaming proudly at the comment, obviously it didn’t matter what he was infamous for, as it did the fact that he was infamous at all. “I was at the lacrosse match a couple of years ago when you mowed down like half of your own team. That was _intense_! I mean, I definitely thought you were on drugs or something, but knowing what I know now… let me guess: it was something supernatural related?”

“Kanima,” Isaac explained with a satisfied grin. “Speaking of which, how is Jackson?”

“Still a douche bag,” said Stiles brusquely, “And he’s gay or something nowadays,” he added as an afterthought. “Anyway, can we _please_ get back to the matter at hand now, _please_?—By the way, nice of you to finally join us, _Isaac_.”

“Okay, firstly: I definitely had a feeling about Jackson. Secondly, no one called me, okay? Absolutely _no one_. It’s not my fault,” he said, affronted. “Thirdly I was in South America, Stiles, okay? _South America_ , fighting _zombies_.”

Stiles let out a disgusted ‘ _pfft’_ and rolled his eyes. “Excuses. We all almost died—Scott actually did _die_ ,” he said, “Theo killed him, but okay, whatever, you and your zombies.”

“What happened to France?” interjected Scott.

“Didn’t work out. Too many French people,” said Isaac, “But – hang on… Scott what now?” Isaac said, looking at Theo and quickly glancing at Scott for an explanation.

Scott just chuckled nervously. “It’s a long story,” he said. “You’ve been gone quite a while you know, and—wait a minute…where’s Liam?” he asked suddenly, obviously sensing his lack of presence among them.

Theo was almost hesitant to answer. “I dropped him off at home earlier. He said it was time he had a talk with his parents,” he said, feeling his heart skipping a beat. In the rush of everything that happened the thought of Liam had almost slipped his mind. “I’ve been trying to call him but none of the phones are working.”

“Damn it,” Scott cursed, running a hand through his hair. “We have to go get him.”

“I’ll go,” Theo said, stepping up.

“I’ll go too,” Mason said.

Scott shook his head. “No, we can't go it alone,” he said. "It's not safe to be out there without back up right now."

“Do we actually know what we’re dealing with now?” Melissa asked.

The question immediately sobered Scott up; he bent down to rest him palms face down on the table before him. “Not _what_ ,” he said with a sigh, “ _Who_.” Malia stepped up to Scott’s side, reaching down to grasp his hand in hers before Scott looked up to lock eyes on every single person in the room. “Monroe.”

They could have heard a pin drop through the silence.

“That bitch,” Stiles said, and Theo couldn’t agree more with the sentiment. “Why did no one kill her when they had the chance? I thought that’s what Peter was good for—why else do we keep him around?”

“We _didn’t_ get the chance. She bailed before anyone would really get a grasp on what had happened,” Scott said, and he sounded far too relaxed for someone who was public enemy number one in Monroe’s book. It was no wonder they went after him and Melissa.

“How do you know?” Corey asked.

“I had Argent following up on a few cases, so we suspected that she was definitely not going out without a fight. But the confirmation that this is all her doing, well… that’s all thanks to Nolan. He’s been keeping in contact with Monroe the whole time,” Scott explained.

Every single person besides Isaac spontaneously shared one mind in that moment, because they all said the name aloud questioningly at the same time.

“ _Nolan_ , Scott? Really? Have you lost your freaking mind? Do you remember what he did?” Stiles almost yelled; everything about his body language exuded irritation and annoyance.

“He was manipulated by Monroe and Gerard, just like the rest of them. And I thought he more than proved himself by the end.”

Stiles exhaled exasperatedly, burrowing his face in his hands and having the aura of someone who had lost all confidence in humanity. “You’re too trusting, Scott; haven’t I told you that before?”

“And _you’re_ not trusting enough, Stiles,” Scott argued back. “People can change, and if you give them a chance, they might even surprise you.”

“But… But… _Nolan_ , Scott. _Nolan_. I don’t like the look of the guy.”

“Stiles,” Scott said, using the tone of voice of someone who was dealing with a petulant child throwing a tantrum. “You don’t like the look of anyone.”

“That’s not true,” he said. “I like Malia’s look and Lydia’s look… and… umm…” he muttered, trailing off.

“Anyway, as I was saying; _Nolan_ , reached out to _me—_ or rather, he reached out to Liam to reach out to me. Apparently Monroe contacted him after she skipped town—I don’t think the news of his double crossing managed to reach her, since everyone who was there at the hospital that day didn’t make it out. But he pretended that he was still loyal to the cause and that he was spying on us for Monroe, when in fact he was actually spying on her for us.”

“How do you know he wasn’t playing both ends of the field though?” Stiles asked with a tired sigh.

“Because he didn’t have to let me know that she’d contacted him. He could have played his part and spied for them and none of us would have been wiser. But he reached out to _us_ ; he wants to prove himself and I think he has. He’s the one who tipped us off to the murders and how they weren’t the supernatural kind like we’d been led to believe. Instead of people being murdered by the supernatural as they’d wanted to make it seem, it was supernatural creatures being murdered by hunters and staged to look like animal attacks.”

“Okay, I accept that,” Stiles said. “Which brings me to my second, yet most pressing matter: how come _I’m_ only hearing about this _now_? Ummm, _hello_ —am I or am I not your bestest friend? Your most trusted confidant and co-Alpha of this pack?”

Isaac’s derisive snort was met with a biting glare from Stiles.

Scott smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry, but I needed your distrust to be genuine,” he said to Stiles’s offended, _‘Excuse me?’_ — “We didn’t know what spies Monroe had in town and I couldn’t have other people suspecting what was going on.”

Stiles seemed to bite the inside of his cheek. “Who else knew?”

“No one! Just Nolan, myself… and Liam,” Scott said the last bit as quietly as he could with a cough.

“Liam?” Stiles asked. He looked absolutely scandalized at the insinuation. “ _Liam_? You told the world’s angriest beta instead of the person you trusted most in this universe? I’m… I’m—ugh, I don’t even recognize you right now, Scott. Don’t look at me.” On any other day, Theo would have found their bantering far more amusing, but he could only focus on going out there to get Liam as soon as possible.

Scott looked apologetic but more on the amused side. “What time is it?” he asked instead.

“Almost two,” Melissa answered, looking at her watch. “What are you going to do?”

“Well… first we’re going to get Liam—” a choked spluttering sound came from Stiles at the mention of the name. “And then we’re going to have to figure out an actual plan. But first, we need the whole pack present and accounted for.”

They were all so focused on what was happening in the moment that none of them realized the new presence walking up to the house until the sound of knocking reached their ears.

“Crap!” Malia said, rushing back to the window to look out. The tension eased from her shoulders soon enough before she straightened up with a sigh and reached to open the door, revealing the nervous face of Nolan standing on the doorstep. Without word Malia reached over, grabbing him by the arm and dragged him roughly into the house.

“Nolan?” Scott said, walking up concernedly. “Is everything alright?”

“Y-Yeah,” he stuttered out, “But—um, I’m actually with someone,” he said, motioning to the door before a second unexpected knock came.

This time it was Scott who reached over to open the door and whoever it was standing on the doorstep, hidden from sight, was unexpected enough that it caused Scott to actually laugh out loud before he stepped aside to allow the other person entrance.

“ _Coach!_ ” exclaimed Stiles.

“Yeah, Stilinski, it’s me,” Coach Finstock announced with gusto. “And that there,” he motioned to the door, “Was beyond rude by the way, especially since I came across this idiot running across town in the middle of the night like his ass was on fire and selflessly drove him all the way down here.”

“Uhh—what were you doing in town in the middle of the night, Coach?” Scott asked, and almost cowered when the coach turned a glare on him.

“Teaching Greenberg the fine arts of coaching lacrosse, what do you think I was doing, McCall? All my best players abandoned me and now I’m stuck with that useless moronic waste of space. When life hands you rotten lemons and all that,” he said, turning around to glare at the occupants of the room. He did a double take when his eyes fell on Isaac who looked like was trying to make himself and small and unnoticeable as possible. “ _Lahey_?”

Isaac let out a nervous laugh, raising a half-hearted hand in greeting. “Hey, Coach. How’s it going?”

“How’s it going?” he asked cynically. “ _How’s it going?_ You mean since you steamrolled your own teammates in the most important match of the year, actively lost us the damn game and left me being the laughing stock of the entire lacrosse underground? It’s been going great, Lahey—amazing! Spectacular, in fact.”

“Not that we don’t appreciate you bringing Nolan all the way here, Coach,” Scott said, cutting into the conversation and trying not to let the urgency in his voice come across too obviously. “But you had something to tell us, Nolan?”

The sudden attention focused on him threw Nolan a little and he struggled to find the words. “I-I tried calling you and Liam earlier. Monroe only told me last minute about the plan but by the time she hung up all the phone lines had gone dead. I think it’s part of her plan. She wouldn’t tell me what it was exactly, but it’s something big. The supernatural killings across the county were just a distraction to get eyes off of Beacon Hills.”

“Hang on, _Monroe_? Guidance counselor Monroe? What does she have to do with anything?” Coach asked.

“She’s the one responsible for the attack on the town a couple of months ago; her and another man, but it’s just her left now,” Mason explained.

“Wow,” said Coach. “I never trusted her to be honest.”

Stiles turned to Coach with an unsurprised expression. “Let me guess… she didn’t like Independence Day?”  

“How do you trust someone who doesn’t!” he said with a little too much fervour. “That, and I don’t trust people who go by only one name. Look at Drake; can’t ever trust a guy who sings about phone jewelry—I mean look at _Greenberg_.”

“I’m pretty sure her first name was Tamora though, Coach,” added Stiles exasperatedly.

“Shut up, Stilinski.”

Scott rubbed his hands across his face with a sigh, looking out at the faces staring back at him, expecting something… a plan, _anything_.

Theo just wanted to go out there and get Liam. That was number one on his list of priorities.

“Theo and I need to go get Liam, the rest of you bunker up here until we get back. We don’t know what Monroe is planning, so it’s better not to split up.”

“I’m coming with you,” Isaac said, walking up beside Scott. “I came back here to help you. I’m not getting left behind.”

“I’m coming too,” Mason said. “Liam’s my best friend; I need to make sure he’s safe. Plus you’ll need me to make an excuse for his parents.”

Scott looked between Isaac and Mason, obviously weighing the pros and cons of bringing one or the other. Eventually he turned to Isaac, an apologetic look on his face. “I need you to stay here. You’re one of the most experienced fighters we have and if you come with me, it’ll be just Malia left to protect everyone. Lydia’s in no shape to fight and Corey is inexperienced. It’ll be a huge load of my mind knowing that everyone here is protected,” he explained.

Isaac just sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Fine… but just because it’s for you, Scott.”

Scott beamed at that, reaching over to embrace him. Isaac returned the hug easily, a small smile on his own face.

He motioned to Theo and Mason with a nod and the two of them trailed after him as he walked out the door; hearing the sounds of the locks being bolted behind them as they made their way to Theo’s truck.

The drive to Liam’s was done in silence. The apprehension hung thick in the air and everyone could barely contain their own worry for Liam’s safety. Scott had obviously played down his concern back at the house so as to not cause fear among everyone else. But being so close to Scott in the small vicinity of the truck, Mason brooding silently in the backseat, Theo could smell the apprehension radiating off of him.

“He’ll be okay guys,” Mason said from the backseat, obviously reading the tension in the truck. “It’s _Liam_.”

Scott smiled at the comment but it eased his fear as much as it did Theo’s, which was not at all. Theo wasn’t going to believe anything until he saw Liam safe with his own two eyes.

The lights in the house were off when Theo pulled in, and Scott was out the door before the engine could fully switch off; marching across the lawn and up the steps. Both Mason and himself had to jog to keep up with him just as he stepped up to the welcome mat on the front door.

Somewhere in the background there was an incessant barking sound going on nonstop. Theo was surprised it hadn’t managed to wake up the entire neighbourhood considering the fervent way the dog was going at it.

The moment Theo stepped onto the porch he immediately had a dark foreboding feeling that something wasn’t right. It was an aftereffect of living with the Dread Doctors for so long; he seemed to have developed an inane sense for the ominous. For one thing; the whole area of the porch smelled like Liam, which wasn’t out of the ordinary because it was Liam’s house after all. But the scent was more concentrated the further away he was from the door.

Scott was talking with Mason, debating how to go about everything when Theo blurted out without even realizing. “He didn’t go into the house,” he said, staring at the far end of the porch headed towards the backyard. “His scent… it’s leading away from the door.”

He marched on without making sure if Scott and Mason were following him, but the closer he got to the backyard, the louder the sound of barking seemed to become. He walked over to the gate that separated Liam’s yard from the neighbour next door, heaving himself up over on the small step ladder conveniently placed against it and peering in. Only then did he hear the second voice, drowned out by the barking, futilely calling out a name. He felt Scott step up on the other section of the step, looking down at the same thing he was: a short round dog barking incessantly at the far end gate and an elderly man standing at the top of the steps calling out the dog’s name.

“Gertie, come back here!”

Scott heaved himself up over the fence, landing in a crouch on the other side. If the dog had been barking as a warning for intruders, it was obviously doing a terrible job at it because it didn’t pay Scott any attention, just continuing to bark at something in the trees behind the house.

Theo mimicked Scott’s action and a few seconds later he heard Mason’s ‘oof’ as he landed hard on the ground behind him.

“That’s Liam’s neighbour, the Milburns,” Mason explained. “Liam always helped out with their dog getting stuck in the dog door.”

They reached Scott just as he finished introducing himself.

“You’re Liam’s friend,” Mr. Milburn said. “Good kid, always helped out with Gertie in the middle of the night. Gertie must miss him, he’s been gone for a while now, and she hasn’t stopped barking for hours,” he said. “Gertie!” he called again; the name falling on deaf ears and the dog continued to pay him no mind. “I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She’s never acted like this before.”

“Did Liam come over tonight?” Scott asked, “To help with your dog?”

“No,” the old man said. “Haven’t seen him in about a week. I heard he was visiting a sick friend.”

“Has the dog been barking at the same spot the entire time?” Mason asked. “Do you have any idea what’s in the woods behind there?”

The only man seemed to consider his answer for a while before he shook his head. “And Gertie’s never acted up this way before.”

“You said it started a couple of hours ago? How long exactly do you recall?”

“About midnight, I think. She usually makes her way out into the yard about this time and Liam would come over when he hears her yelping because she got stuck in the door. But she went out earlier and didn’t come back in, and all of a sudden she just started barking something awful.”

Scott shared a concerned look with Theo and Mason before turning back to Mr. Milburn. “Sir, do you mind if we bring Gertie in the woods with us, just to check things out? Maybe she sensed something happening there.” The old man looked visibly hesitant so Scott tried to reassure him. “I’ll take good care of her, I promise.”

Eventually he gave a small nod. “The key to the gate is under a fake rock, second from the left,” he said, “Just so you don’t have to lift her up the fence and risk pulling out your back.”

So the tree of them and Gertie, who kept close to Mason the whole time, made their way into the underbrush leading into the canvas of trees in the background. Gertie sniffed the ground as she walked, weaving in and out, between the trees.

Theo tried to catch a scent himself but there was something in the air that was throwing him off. Scott noticed his look and fell back to walk in step with him. “You noticed it too huh? The smell?”

Theo nodded. “I don’t like this. Something… something is definitely wrong,” he said. “I shouldn’t have let him go home. I should have gone back to get him the moment the shit hit the fan,” he said, his frustration and anger aimed more at himself than Scott.

“It’s not your fault,” Scott said. “If anything, I should have sensed that something was wrong—I should have known something was going to happen. I should have protected my pack.”

Theo exhaled and opened his mouth to say something, but before the words could leave his lips, he heard Mason’s frantic voice calling his and Scott’s name from somewhere up ahead.

Both of them immediately ran forward, finding Mason standing by a large overgrown root next to a huge tree and Gertie fussing around with something at the foot of it, whinnying pathetically. They stopped when they reached Mason’s side and looked down to see whatever it was Mason was gaping horrified at.

It was a large dark spot staining the side of the tree and the ground of leaves at the bottom. In the darkness it looked like just an innocent shadow. But when the light of the moon hit with a beam, illuminating the entire area within their vicinity, the large black shadow on the ground almost came to life in a colour.

A dark shade of red.

Blood red.

The side of the tree and the scuffed up ground near the root was saturated with blood, and there was no Liam in sight.

The three of them could do nothing but share a horrified look as Gertie’s distraught whining filled the sound of silence in that dark dank forest that night.

**Tbc.**


	15. An Unfortunate Kidnapping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Scott caught some flack last chapter for not immediately going back out to get Liam (which he totally would have lets be real) when it’s honestly my own fault. The whole scene between Scott finding out Liam wasn’t there and actually going out to get him took maybe fifteen minutes, but I realize now that there was a much better way I could have handled it – like having them go get Liam immediately and bringing in Coach Finstock and Nolan after – but yeah, too late to do anything about it now. I tweaked Scott’s dialogue a bit so that it didn’t seem so out of character of him to put off going to save Liam in lieu of everything else.
> 
> Anyway, sorry for the late update. I’ve been going through some stuff irl, if you follow me on tumblr you probably know, so I haven’t really been in the most chatty mood. I thought I’d update first regardless cause I left it on a mean cliffhanger and get to the comments later. So, hope you enjoy :)

 

Theo had never felt more frustrated or angry at himself than he did in that moment. Liam had been taken, he was hurt, they didn’t know how hurt, while they were all playing house and talking bullshit and reminiscing and he’d just stood back and done nothing when his instincts had been shouting at him to go get Liam, to go check on him to make sure he was alright. But he’d done nothing. He sent Liam back to his house that night. He was responsible for him being gone. He was responsible for him being hurt. Liam had changed his mind; he decided not to leave and Theo had made him, he’s pushed him out. And now Liam was gone and it was his fault.

Scott had been beyond frantic after the discovery; hollering Liam’s name desperately as the three of them and a yapping Gertie scoured the entire wooded area trying to find a clue or catch a scent or just get anything that would be able to help them find Liam or find out who took him. But all three of them already knew who was responsible.

“That bitch!” Mason spat. “That fuc-That bitch! That… What are we going to do, Scott?” he turned around to face Scott who was staring out at the vast area spread out before him, his back to them. “Scott… what are we going to do? They have him. They have Liam.” He nearly cried.

Theo couldn’t concentrate on anything; he couldn’t focus on anything besides the smell of copper and the metallic tang he could still taste on the tip of his tongue. His heart was pounding in his chest so hard he could almost hear the sound reverberating off the trees, drowning him, muffling his senses and stripping him of all coherent thought.

Liam had been taken. He was hurt, badly and it was all Theo’s fault.

It was his fault.

His sister died because of him and now Liam was going to die because of him.

Liam was going to die.

It was his fault.

A sudden sharp pain in his left cheek broke him out of his reverie and he looked up to stare straight into Mason’s teary, concerned eyes.

“Don’t disappear on us now, man,” he said. “Not now. Liam needs us.”

Theo could only stare at him transfixed for a moment before he nodded hesitantly and watched as Mason immediately turned around marched over to where Scott was still standing brooding, staring despondently off into the distance. He watched as Mason grabbed Scott by the scruff of his shirt, pulling him around to face him. He watched as Mason said the exact same thing to Scott that he’d said to him and the way Scott’s face immediately changed after.

“I know Liam means a lot to the two of you,” Mason said, addressing Scott and Theo with a single look. “But I’ve known him longer than the both of you combined. He’s my best friend and my brother and we’ve been there for each other since the beginning, so… so the two of you—you have to get your heads straight, because the longer we keep over thinking the worst and trying to blame ourselves for this… that’s a second longer we’re not out _there_ trying to save him. So… cut it out!”

Scott was the first one to move, reaching over to clasp Mason tight on the shoulder. “You’re right,” he said; his other hand reaching up to scrub his face, as wiping away all the traces of his fear. “There will be time for the blame game after, first we have to find Liam and bring him home.” Scott finished, his eyes glancing away from Mason after a while stare at Theo and in that moment Theo felt like Scott’s gaze was piercing him straight through the soul, as if speaking to without using words. In that moment Theo understood what it felt to have an Alpha, because the moment Scott’s eyes found his, the moment his brightly shining soul touched Theo’s torn, blackened, tainted one, in that moment, every fiber of Theo’s being said that he would gladly follow this man to the ends of the earth.

In that moment, Theo felt a little less empty on the inside.

In that moment, he felt like he wasn’t so completely alone.

He nodded; pushing back all the dark thoughts and the feelings of self-loathing. He was responsible for Liam being taken. He was responsible for Liam being hurt and he was doing to do absolutely everything to get him back. He could wallow and brood to his heart’s content after. The priority right then was Liam.

The drive back to the McCall house was done in silence and suffocating unease. He’d gone straight to the truck parked in the street outside Liam’s house while Scott carried Gertie back to her awaiting owner who had been waiting worriedly for them on the back porch of his house. Scott had made up some excuse about a stray coyote but if what Scott suspected was indeed true, the only reason the old man bought the excuse was out of courtesy. The elderly people in Beacon Hills were obviously not as dumb or blind as the younger generation.

Everyone had obviously been waiting on pins and needles for them when they arrived because the moment they pulled into the street, everyone was out the door, waiting for them on the front porch.

Scott’s face and the lack of Liam among their returning group probably said it all because Melissa gasped, her hands flying to her mouth as Malia turned around and buried herself in Stiles’s embrace. Even Stiles for once, had nothing cynical to say.

Corey rushed down as they were halfway through the front yard and enveloped Mason immediately in a hug, holding him close and not saying anything as Mason buried his face in his chest.

Scott didn’t say anything as he ascended the stairs and made a beeline for Melissa, making himself as small as possible and almost disappearing in her embrace. “They took him, mom,” he said. “They took Liam.”

Theo just watched everyone from a distance; Nolan and the Coach were still around, hovering in the back as he was. Nolan had a look of guilt on his face and he leaned back to rest his back against the wall, obviously wondering whether he could have or should have done more. The Coach, like Stiles, was for once completely silent. Isaac was flanking Melissa from behind, almost standing guard behind her and Scott, keeping a watchful eye on the surrounding and any potential enemies that might suddenly appear.

And Theo… Theo did nothing. He said nothing. He approached no one and kept himself at a distance, out of notice. It occurred to him in that moment just how out of place he really was, how unworthy he was to even be there. He didn’t deserve to be among them. He didn’t deserve to be in the pack. He’d done absolutely nothing of use and brought nothing to the table besides handing Liam over to the enemy on a silver platter. It was him, and he was going to do anything and everything he had to do with get him back, even if it would cost him his life.

He heard Scott’s voice calling his name and realized that he was standing alone at the bottom of the stairs. Everyone, including Mason and Corey had reentered the house and it was just Scott left standing at the top, holding the door open, waiting for him.

“Come on, Theo,” he said, his voice steady though his eyes were rimmed red and damp.

“I’m sorry, Scott,” Theo said, his voice sounding weird to his own ears, almost like it belonged to someone else. “I drove him back there. I delivered him straight into their clutches. I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I don’t deserve to be here.”

He heard Scott closing the door after he averted his eyes to look at the ground in shame, and sensed Scott’s approach down the stairs before he came to a stop just a foot away. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder but didn’t dare look up, only listening closely when Scott started to speak.

“It’s not your fault, Theo,” he said. “It’s mine. They were after _me_. They came after the people closest to _me_. All this falls on me because Liam is my beta, this is my pack and I should have protected them better. Monroe had obviously been planning this for months, and the fact that Liam was with you this entire time was probably the reason why she didn’t manage to get him sooner.”

Theo finally looked up at that. Scott’s eyes were hard and intense, but it was just the emotions raging inside him, none of it was directed at Theo himself.

“ _We_ should have protected him better,” Theo found himself saying. “This doesn’t fall completely on you, Scott.”

Scott actually smiled at that. “The only thing we can do now is to get our Liam back.”

Theo nodded and Scott patted him once more on the shoulder before turning to walk back into the house. “This time though… I’m going to kill her, and I won’t let anyone stand in my way,” he said when Scott was halfway up the stairs, causing him to still suddenly before turning around.

Scott just gazed at him silently for a moment. “No…” he said; his tone stern and his eyes almost flashing red for an instance. “This time… I’m going to kill her myself.”

Theo was struck by the intensity of his aura when he said the words, but eventually slowly made his way up the stairs following Scott back into the house.

He felt Isaac’s presence locking and bolting the doors behind him. They didn’t speak, only exchanging silent looks before they joined the rest of the pack in the living room.

Mason had filled the rest in on what they’d found in the woods and everyone was still leaning in close listening to his words. Lydia seemed to have come out of whatever trance she’d been in and was conversing with Scott by the window when he entered. They talked a while longer until Scott turned away, looking over to where Nolan was sitting with his head in his hands in the single seater sofa at the end of the coffee table.

“Nolan, is there anything you can tell us? Anything at all… what her plan is or where she’s hiding out at?” Scott asked.

Nolan just shook his head sadly. “She just… she just said that they were going ahead with the plan tonight and for me to keep my phone close because she might call with instructions.”

“You have your phone on your now?” Stiles asked, walking up to where Scott and Lydia were standing.

“Yeah, of course. I was afraid she’d suspect something if I didn’t pick up when she did,” he said.

“Good,” Scott said. “Keep it on hand, just in case.” Nolan nodded and immediately reached into his pocket to pull out his cellphone. “Did you manage to call Argent?” he continued, turned to Melissa immediately after.

“No. Cell lines are still dead,” Melissa said. “But I sent some texts on the off chance that a few of them would be able to slip through.”

Scott nodded at that and turned to Mason and Corey, asking them how they knew to come, and they told him the same thing they’d told Theo earlier that night which earned Theo an unreadable look from Scott but he didn’t pursue the subject.

“Coach,” Scott called out finally, addressing the man standing uncharacteristically silent with his arms crossed by the door. “I think you should go. It’s not safe being around us right now, especially with everything that’s happened and everything else that probably going to happen,” he said. “You’re not involved in any of this. Same with you, Nolan.”

The coach pursed his lips, seemingly unimpressed by the words but his eyes showed pride at Scott’s show of leadership in that moment. “Well, tough, McCall. I’m already involved in this whether you _or I_ like it or not. Besides, they have _my_ team captain and best player and absolutely _no one_ is standing between me and the championship this year. Not werepoodles or kanimals or wendangos— _nothing_! You hear me?”

Stiles was biting his knuckles by the time Coach finished his speech but everyone else besides Isaac (who was outright laughing) were trying to pass off their reluctant chuckle as a bout of coughing.

“S-Same with me,” Nolan said, hesitantly getting to his feet. “It won’t ever make up for what I did, or what Gabe did, but… but I want to at least try. Especially for what we did to Liam.”

Scott sighed but he didn’t look unimpressed by their drive. Instead he tore his eyes away from Nolan and Coach to address the rest of the group. He only got as far as “Guys—” before Stiles immediately held a hand up, stepping forward.

“Don’t even say what I know you’re going to say, Scott, I swear to god I will punch you in the face. I swear. It’s going to hurt like a son of a bitch and I’m going to regret doing it immediately after, but I will do it. So just… save it, okay. We’re not all True Alphas here but we’re not completely useless either—except maybe Isaac, he’s like the most useless werewolf ever.” Stiles added the last bit with a casual motion.

“Ay, screw you, Stiles. _Zombies_ , okay? There were fucking zombies!” said Isaac.

“Guys!” interrupted Scott, attracting all the attention to him. He looked around at everyone in the room, his eyes lingering on Theo for slightly longer and Theo acknowledged it with a small nod. “Just… let’s go get Liam.”

The agreeing cheer was instantaneous with everyone who was sitting getting to their feet and everyone else who was standing separate from the group, including Theo, stepping forward to make a tight knit circle around the coffee table.

Theo looked around at every single face before finally coming to rest on Scott’s, and the pride exuding off his being was palpable. He still radiated fear and apprehension over Liam, but it was obvious that in his heart he knew that with the support of everyone in that small little dysfunctional group, there was nothing he wouldn’t be able to conquer.

Theo felt proud to be included in that group.

“This time,” Scott said, his words addressing the group but his eyes focused completely on Melissa, “This time, anyone who gets in my way… anyone who tries to hurt any of you… _this time_ , they’re going to die, all of them. Otherwise they’ll just keep coming,” he said. “And Monroe will be the first.”

Scott’s eyes didn’t blink once as he continued staring at Melissa, as if making a promise and seeking her approval all in just one look. Melissa in return didn’t glance away. She kept his steady gaze and when he finally finished, a small, sad yet proud smile curled at her lips. “You all do what you need to do,” she said, “ _Whatever_ you need to do. Just get our boy back.”

It was as if the planets aligned perfectly in that moment, when Scott and Melissa finished speaking, that the phone in Nolan’s hand all of a sudden started buzzing.

The name that came up on the screen was ‘private’ but everyone knew instinctively who it was. There was only one person who would be able to make a phone call at that time.

“Monroe?” Nolan said as he brought the phone up to his ear and clicked ‘accept’. He swallowed once nervously, his eyes finding Scott as if seeking the comfort and assurance of having him there and Scott nodded back his silent support. “What’s going on? I tried calling you but the phones weren’t working…uh—me?” he trailed off as Monroe obviously continue talking on the other end. “I’m…uh, with Coach—we were going over the game plan for this season’s matches and we lost track of time cause we started later cause uh—cause we were waiting on Liam who didn’t show.”

Theo’s heart skipped a beat at the mention and Nolan was beginning to sweat bullets but he managed to keep his voice steady. Scott looked apprehensive but he nodded at Nolan when he finished, mouthing a supporting ‘good’, which seemed to boost Nolan’s confidence as he continued listening to what Monroe was saying.

“Well, you told me to keep an eye on Liam and Scott, and that’s what I was doing, and the way in with Liam was through lacrosse so…” he trailed off when the sound Monroe’s voice rose so loud it could almost be heard by the rest of the people in the room. “I understand… sorry.”

For the rest of the call Nolan remained absolutely silent, only humming his acknowledgement of whatever instruction Monroe was doling out and the occasional ‘yes, ma’ams’. His eyes remained locked onto Scott’s, barely even blinking and Scott in return made a show of his support and his approval any chance he got.

Eventually the call seemed to be winding-down with the increase of Nolan’s verbal agreements and the way his eyes were slowly becoming more hardened and more determined, as if Scott was somehow channeling his strength into Nolan.

There was no goodbye at the end of the call; only the sound of the line beeping at the other end and going silent, before Nolan finally removed the receiver from his ear, dropping his arm to hang at his side.

“She wants to meet. She’s sending someone to pick me up tomorrow at the junction off of the one-fifteen just off the highway outside of town. She says it’s time she brought me in on the whole plan,” he explained to the room.

“Did she mention Liam at all? Does she have him?” Scott asked his tone urgent.

“She didn’t say but… but she definitely has him,” he said. “There was something in her tone when I told her Liam didn’t show up—I know she has him.”

“That bitch,” Stiles said.

“Well, you can’t go alone,” Melissa said. “We can’t send him in there by himself. What if they figure out he’s with us? What if they already know?” The last part was directed to Scott.

Scott just sighed, running his fingers through his hair. He looked around at all the faces around him. “We can’t send any one of us. Monroe knows what we all look like.”

“What about me?” Isaac asked, drawing attention to himself. “She doesn’t know who I am.”

“She’ll know you’re a werewolf,” Scott said. “And knowing her—knowing the way Gerard taught her, she’ll definitely have anti-werewolf protection around her safe house. You probably wouldn’t even get past the front gate.”

“Me?” Asked Mason, raising his hand. “Liam’s my best friend and—”

“And Monroe knows that,” said Scott. “All of us in this room… we’re all out of the question. Monroe knows who we are; she knows what we look like. She’s doing this to draw us out, to draw _me_ out because she wants revenge. Me, Malia, Lydia, Theo, Corey, and Isaac… we all absolutely can’t go, and all our human allies… she already knows them all.”

“Not all of them,” said a voice, interrupting Scott and drawing everyone’s attention to himself.

Coach Finstock stood inconspicuously apart from the group, slightly off to the side and away from the spotlight. His trademark cynicism and hate for the general population uncharacteristically reined in, but he stood straight, his shoulders square and his chest puffed out.

“Coach?” muttered Scott confusedly.

“I’ll go,” he said. “I’ll go with Nolan. Can’t have that psycho bitch grabbing _both_ my team captains; I’ll have to assume she’s been rooting for the opposing teams the entire time and I will _not_ stand for that bullshit.” The coach was trying to play off everything as cool but Theo could smell his concern from all the way across the table.

“It’s too dangerous, Coach,” said Scott just as Stiles chimed in. “We don’t even know that she doesn’t know that you’re our ally. This isn’t the time to be playing Supercoach.”

“Okay, for starters, Stilinski, I’ve always been Supercoach—no one else with even a shred of common sense would let _you_ within a hundred feet of a lacrosse field—”

“That doesn’t even have anything to do with anything!” said Stiles, flabbergasted.

“Secondly; I took an arrow to the gut, McCall, and it hurt like an _ass_! I think I can deal with whatever that woman doles out.”

“She’s armed to the teeth with a shit load of automatic rifles and no doubt an army of highly trained mercenaries,” said Stiles. “Getting shot a billion times would probably hurt a tad more than one teeny arrow.”

“Don’t listen to the worst player on the team,” said Isaac, butting in, addressing the coach with a grin. “You’ll definitely kick ass, Coach, and if you get in trouble, just ask yourself: What would Captain Steve Hiller do?”

What Isaac said seemed to wipe all the fear clean from the Coach’s expression as he gazed off thoughtfully into the distance.

“Great,” said Stiles, throwing his hands up. “Very helpful, Isaac. What are you trying to do? Get him killed?”

“I’m trying to ease his anxiety,” said Isaac, his tone sharp, “So that he won’t be a vibrating bundle of nerves going into it. Or do you have a secret list of other human allies willing to help folded in your pocket, _Stiles_? You’re right, we can definitely someone else—oh yeah, that’s right, there _is_ no one else.”

“Guys—guys!” Bellowed Scott, getting between Stiles and Isaac when it seemed like the conversation was taking a more heated turn. “Now’s not the time to get into it.” When Isaac turned back with a huff and Stiles walked over to where Malia and Lydia were standing to cool off, Scott turned back to the coach. “Are you sure about this, Coach? It’s going to be dangerous. Monroe is… well, she’s crazy.”

For the first time, Coach’s expression and his body language exuded completely seriousness. “I’m sure,” he said. “Just… if I die, don’t leave it to Greenberg to coach the team. He’ll murder my reputation deader than my decaying body.”

Scott chuckled at that, though the air around him was somber. “I promise coach.”

“What about the Sheriff or Argent?” Asked Mason.

“Chris is off checking some of the leads Nolan gave us. I… I’m not sure when he’ll be back. I haven’t contacted him in days,” said Melissa.

“And my dad’s at the station,” said Stiles. “Parrish is out of town with Scott’s dad and with a lot of the deputy’s being put on leave or having been let go completely because of their part in the attack, he’s been stuck trying dealing with a bulk of the paperwork himself. And uh… I don’t really want to bring him into this if we don’t _have_ to.”

“I agree,” said Scott. “Lydia, are you getting anything? Feeling anything that’ll help.”

“No,” said Lydia. “It’s not something I can turn on and off. Just… we just need to hurry. There’s something brewing in the air, and it feels so, _so_ wrong.”

“Do we even have a plan of attack?” asked Malia. “Having a bunch of guns—or a couple of Berserkers—really wouldn’t hurt right about now.”

“Speaking of berserkers,” said Stiles. “Peter?”

“As if that useless jackass would help us if it isn’t to his benefit,” said Malia with an eye roll.

“He’d help you, probably,” said Stiles. “After your heartwarming father-daughter bonding moment—”

“Stiles?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up,” said Malia with finality.

“ _Right_. Shutting up.”

Theo glanced around the room once more, watching everyone continue conversing, debating their plan of attack or just throwing ideas back and forth. He felt a warm hand gripping his shoulder and glances over to see that Scott had walked over to his side and was addressing him thoughtfully with just his eyes.

“What do you think?” he asked, as if he genuinely wanted to know Theo’s opinion.

“I think we have to get Liam now, otherwise…” he trailed off. “We need a plan or a—wait, what road did Nolan say Monroe was picking him up at?”

“Off the one-fifteen. Why?”

Theo wracked his brain trying to remember what he could about the layout of that area. He knew he’d heard or seen that road somewhere and it stood out enough for him to remember. “There’s an abandoned plant about ten klicks up the dirt road,” he said, his eyes gazing at a spot in the distance as his mind combed through the multitude of information he’d been forced to study and retain for the Dread Doctors. Among them was a list of abandoned lairs that would have served as their laboratory. Ultimately they decided on the spot in the sewer that connected to all the main entry points in the city buildings; but the plant on the outskirts had been a potential candidate as well. Theo remembered because he was the one who’d gone to scope it out.

He explained it all to Scott in detail. Slowly, one by one, all the focus had turned to him and to the conversation between him and Scott until he ended his words with, “—and there’s a closed underground sewer system that leads directly into the plant.”

The room was silent for a moment as everyone seemed to digest what he’d said, until finally Scott smiled, one of the wide ones that brightened his whole face as he reached over to clasp Theo on the shoulder.

“I think,” he started, looking out the assembled pack, “I think we have the start of a plan.”

**Tbc.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who don’t know, Steve Hiller is Will Smith’s character in Independence Day.


	16. A Barrier of Mountain Ash

Liam was confusing and beyond frustrating, mainly because Theo could barely get a lock on his thoughts or what he was feeling on the inside when it wasn’t just blinding rage. He seemed simple enough to understand at first glance: hot head, too quick temper, hero-worship for Scott. But he continued to leave Theo completely baffled and at a complete loss for words.

It started with the hallucinations; the day he got out of the hole—the day Liam pulled him out of the hole—the day he saved him. It had been simple enough then; at least he understood what was happening. It was recompense for his crimes, for everything he’d done and everything he almost succeeded in doing. Tara would have said, ‘karma finally caught up with him’, but it wasn’t karma; it was his own sins and he deserved every single agonizing second of it.

He wished for death then, even though it would have been kinder than what he deserved.

But then Liam was there, right in his face never once stepping away. He was there the whole time and even when Theo didn’t know where he was; even when he could barely remember who he was; Liam stayed. He held his hand and he held him close and he didn’t once let go even when Theo tried pushing him away.

Liam stayed when he should have turned his back and run.

Liam stayed even though he didn’t know what he was doing; even though he couldn’t see or understand the way he made Theo’s emotions rage in his chest; the way he made his heart thunder uncontrollably against his rib-cage. He stayed through thick and thin, through pain and tears and vomit and he didn’t complain even once. He stayed even though his presence was the thing that caused Theo the most heartache.

Liam stayed even though he couldn’t understand how difficult it was for Theo to be in the presence of the once thing he truly wanted but would never be able to have.

Theo wanted Liam even though he knew Liam would never want him back.

But he did. It wasn’t a one sided thing, it wasn’t a fantasy or a recurring nightmare; it was real. Liam was real and Theo was real and the feelings they had for each other wasn’t just a singularity on Theo’s end.

Theo wanted Liam and Liam wanted him too, and when Liam actually said the words, when Liam kissed him in that room in the McCall house that day; everything was just so unexpected and happened to suddenly that Theo didn’t know what to think, he didn’t know what to do or how to react so he did what he does best: he put up a wall to keep everyone away, everyone, especially Liam. But Liam was persistent. He kept clawing at it and chipping at it until the rocky surface was broken and wall was barely left standing and when it finally collapsed in a heap of rubble and upturned dust, the only thing left standing there was Liam: his gaze intent and his posture determined, looking at Theo like he was the only thing he ever wanted to look at again.

In that moment, Theo finally sighed and relented.

He wanted Liam and Liam wanted him back and that was all that mattered and crawling through the dried out sewer, overgrowing with roots and moss and smelling like dead vermin; that was a price he was willing to pay ten times over.

Theo glanced over at Stiles by his side and Scott taking point a few feet ahead of them.

There were two secret entrances that he knew of. The tunnel they were following was the one at the furthest end of the gully, while Isaac, Malia, Mason and Corey were taking the entrance closest to the plant. They would both come up at opposite ends of the building and had planned to rendezvous somewhere in the middle. Theo had pointed out on the makeshift map he’d roughly drawn out from memory, which was the safest passages and hallways to follow; they just needed to keep an eye out for the human element. That way they would be able to survey just how many enemies they had and maybe if they got lucky, find out where Monroe was keeping Liam.

Melissa and Lydia had stayed back out of harm’s way and to provide backup assistance while Nolan and Coach had gone on ahead to the meeting point to wait for Monroe.

Coach Finstock’s cover hadn’t been the most airtight they probably could have come up with, but no one really knew he had a connection to Scott outside being his lacrosse coach and the fact that he’d always made his dislike for everyone and everything perfectly clear, so they were counting on that to be solid enough for Monroe to accept.

“How much longer?” asked Scott from up ahead.

“Not long,” Theo said. He didn’t know exactly where they were but he had a rough estimate. “We should be coming up on the ladder and the latched door. The room it opens into should be free of people. There were warnings signs of contaminants in the whole section of the plant after the incident so hopefully Monroe’s team would choose to steer clear of it.”

“Umm—wait one second what exactly do you mean ‘ _contaminants_?’” asked Stiles, taken-aback.

“I told you to go with Isaac, didn’t I?” he said.

“And leave you alone with Scott? _Pfft_.” He scoffed like it was the most ridiculous notion in the world.

“ _Stiles_ ,” said Scott, his tone stern.

Theo honestly didn’t mind it. He appreciated Stiles’s candor as he always had. He was getting pretty sick of everyone walking on eggshells around him so Stiles’s truthfulness was a breath of fresh air.

“You’re right… but don’t start complaining now. Besides, the plant’s been out of commission for almost fifteen years. I’m sure whatever hazard was there is already gone by now… probably,” he added on the last bit just to get a rise out of Stiles.

As usual it worked.

“If I get infected by something, it’s on you, Raeken, just so you know,” Stiles said.

“I’ll be sure to write you a nice eulogy if you die from that infection,” he said.

“Come on, guys,” pleaded Scott.

They came upon the ladder and the door soon after, and as Theo had said, it opened to an empty, dark and dank room in one of the lower levels of the plant. It didn’t seem to have obvious traces of poison or anything of the like, much to Stiles’s relief.

Luckily the room was empty like Theo had said, and so was the rest of the corridor leading to and from the abandoned, dust covered area. The plant was just one large building that consisted of an open space where the broken, rusty machinery still lay unused and discarded and metal stairs leading up to balconies that creeped all along the side of the metal infrastructure. The rest of it were corridors that lead to the smaller structures that flanked the main building and one main tunnel that lead straight into the basement, the heart of the plant.

The whole area had obviously been abandoned for decades but the sound of the generator whirring and rumbling in the background and the obvious traces of footsteps scuffing up the dirt covered floors made it clear that it hadn’t been uninhabited for long. None of them knew for certain whether Theo’s theory had been right, but judging by the state of the area and the obvious smell of people all over everything inside the building, it was safe to say that his suspicions were not unfounded.

“What’s the plan?” Asked Theo as they emerged from one of the back room into a dimly lit hallway, checking around the bend to see whether there were any guards posted anywhere in their immediate vicinity. Even though the building obviously wasn’t uninhabited, none of the inhabitants seemed to be anywhere any of them could see or sense.

“We need to rendezvous with the others and find Liam or Monroe, whoever we manage to come across first,” Scott said.

“Have I told you guys what a terrible idea I think this is?” Stiles asked anxiously.

“Yes,” said Theo and Scott simultaneously. “But we still need to do this,” added Scott, “For Liam.”

Stiles didn’t have anything else to say to that.

It was obvious that the building was being used as a hideout and the deeper they ventured into it the more obvious it became that it was indeed by a group of hunters, so it was suspicious that they didn’t run into not one person the entire time they were sneaking through the compound.

They found Isaac, Malia and the rest in a janitorial closet in one of the side corridors about midway through the building. None of them ran into any of the hunters on their end either which put everyone’s nerves on edge even more than it already was.

“Did any of you see Nolan or Coach?” Scott asked, but his reply was a resounding negative, which could have been either a good thing or a terribly bad thing.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now. We just need to trust that Nolan and Coach Finstock can take care of business on their end,” said Malia.

“Am I the only one hearing the irony in that sentence?” said Stiles, exasperated. “It’s like putting the fate of the whole universe on the shoulder of Jar Jar Binks and his even dumber clone.”

Mason was the only one who nodded in agreement, everyone else’s reaction was just to stare at Stiles with an expression of utter blankness.

Stiles had to bite his knuckles to keep himself from saying things he’d regret. “What’s the matter with you guys?” he croaked out, clearly completely taken aback and disgusted.

“I spent my formative years locked in freezer,” said Isaac.

“I spent most of my childhood with the Dread Doctors,” said Theo.

“I lived as a coyote in the forest for most of my life,” said Malia.

Stiles glared at all of them in order. “That’s it—when this is over and done with, I’m locking _all_ you assholes in a room with a bolted door and make you watch the movies in order, _all of them_.”

“When this is over and done with, we’ll make a night,” said Scott. “We just need to get Liam. He’s the only one who matters now.”

“The whole floor’s clean. There’s just one place we haven’t checked,” said Isaac, catching Scott’s eye.

“The basement,” said Scott, understanding Isaac’s meaning.

“I can go on ahead, scout for threats just in case,” said Corey.

“I’ll go with Corey,” volunteered Mason with a raised hand.

Scott looked ready to object, but even he couldn’t find a legitimate reason to prevent them from going besides his fear for their safety. But if there was one person who could navigate an area without being detected, it was Corey, and all of them knew that Corey would never let anything happen to Mason and vice versa. So eventually Scott relented, giving them a small nod of approval which was met by a determined look that came over Corey’s face before he took Mason’s hand in a firm grasp and both of them melded into the background.

The only noise in the backdrop was Isaac’s surprised yelp which was drowned out by the sound of the door opening and closing and of invisible footsteps leading away from their position.

“What the fuck just happened?” asked Isaac in complete bewilderment.

“Half chameleon,” said Stiles as a matter of fact. “So what now?”

“I’ll go scout the area,” said Theo, “I know the layout of the building the best and the lack of guards anywhere in the building is putting me on edge. Something isn’t right.”

“I’ll go with Theo,” offered Malia, much to everyone’s surprise, especially Theo’s.

“No, we shouldn’t split up,” said Scott. “Nothing good ever happens when we split up.”

“You literally just let Mason and Corey waltz out of the door, Scott. Is that not splitting up?” said Stiles.

“That’s different. They know where we are and they know where to come back to if things go sideways,” said Scott, though the apprehension on his face was more than apparent. “Besides, it’s much harder for us to move around undetected than it is for Corey. We still don’t know what Monroe is planning or even where she is. We don’t know how many of them are out there or how much firepower they have. We know nothing and we’re working off of nothing and every second that goes by is one second longer Liam is in her hands.” His voice was almost choked up on the last part of the sentence and the sound was more than obvious. “We don’t know how hurt he is or what she’s done to him. We don’t know if he’s even al—” Scott physically restrained himself from finishing the word. “We just… we need to get Liam back. That’s all that matters.”

Stiles didn’t seem to have anything to reply to that, at least, it was obvious that what Scott had said resonated with him more than he let on. He only nodded his head in agreement, but said nothing more.

“We should have brought back up,” said Malia. “I should have called Peter. If things end up going sideways, we could at least shove him at Monroe’s bullets and make a run for it.”

Scott managed a chuckle at that but it was short lived because the door suddenly flew open without any apparent cause before Mason and Corey materialized right before their eyes, panting like they’d ran the whole way back.

“Did you find Liam?” questioned Scott immediately.

“No, but there were guards down in the basement, about five of them armed with automatic rifles,” said Mason, panting hard. “Whatever it is, _whoever_ they’re keeping, the basement is definitely the best place to start looking.”

Scott nodded, inhaling and exhaling determinedly through his nose, eyeing each one of the people present in the room with a determined gaze. Each one of them stared back with just as much determination. His eyes eventually came to rest on Stiles, who swallowed once and brought up his trusty bat, twirling it around in his hand.

“Let’s go get our Luke,” said Scott as his gaze remained on Stiles and Stiles looked equal parts shocked as he did proud.

Malia and Isaac immediately brandished their claws, lips curling into a grin, bearing their sharpened fangs and eyes that shone like crystal beacons in the darkness of the room.

Theo looked around at the pack, his gaze finally resting on Scott; watching as his brown eyes flickered into the burning red of an alpha and he felt his own mimicking the act subconsciously, as if being in the mere presence of an alpha brought to life wolf inside of him. He could feel the sensation of his claws emerging from under his cuticles, covering his own human fingernails with the talons of a more beastly creature; it brought on a comforting sort of pain.

He wasn’t a real werewolf, whose anatomy was altered the moment they were turned to adapt to their new abilities. He had all the abilities of a werewolf, but on a much lesser scale. He healed slower and less clean than a real werewolf. He felt pain every time he shifted, every time his claws grew out over his own nails; every time his fangs emerged the same way. The one thing that didn’t hurt was the power he could feel coursing through his body and this time it was no different. But this time, having Scott there to lead him, having Malia and Isaac and Corey, even Stiles and Mason there to watch his back, he felt a different sort of power; the kind of power you couldn’t just take, the kind you couldn’t steal. It was the kind of power you could only earn and in that moment, he finally understood why so many werewolves, why so many supernatural beings were so desperate to be part of a pack; why being an omega was looked down on and feared the way it was by so many.

He was led to believe that power could only be taken, or harnessed; the Dread Doctors, Deucalion; all the influences he’d had in his life that led him to the point. But Scott McCall showed him that true power wasn’t necessarily what a person could do, but what a person could inspire others to do. Power wasn’t just something that could be used to hurt people, but what a person was willing to do to protect others. That was real power and Scott had all of that in spades and so did Liam; he showed that to Theo many times over but Theo had just been too blind to truly see it.

He looked back at Scott’s fiery red eyes staring almost into his very soul with his gaze shining golden and he willed his eyes to say everything his mouth never would. And from the surprised look that flashed across Scott face that quickly turned into silent approval, Theo saw that it did.

True to Mason and Corey’s words, there were a handful of guards patrolling the large metallic bunker-like basement beneath the building; each of them armed to the teeth and none of them looked like Monroe had just picked them up of the streets. They all looked like they were built to kill.

“Mercenaries,” Theo said, only loud enough for the people around him to hear, “Probably ex-military, guns-for-hire types.”

“How do you know?” asked Mason, obviously intrigued by his vast knowledge of things no high school student had any place knowing.

“I’ve seen my fair share,” he said. “The Dread Doctors… well… let’s just say their business wasn’t a one off kind of thing.”

Scott didn’t turn around at any point but Theo could tell he was listening. “We need to get through them. If Liam is in there… just—you guys stay here,” he ordered, finally turning around after he’s voiced his command; straightening up and brandishing his own claws.

But before he could even make a move, Isaac had stepped up, placing one hand on his chest. “I got this,” he said with a smirk, allowing his eyes to glow bright yellow and his claws to grow out, almost scratching the material of Scott’s shirt under his palm. “You guys get through while they’re distracted.”

Before Scott could get a word in otherwise, Isaac leaped out the side corridor they were hiding behind and dashed across the short distance before the mercenaries even noticed his presence. He took two of them out simultaneously and was working his way through the other three when he mentioned to Scott and the rest to go through.

Corey and Mason went ahead first, hiding under the cover of Corey’s invisibility with Stiles and Malia following close behind; Stiles’s trusty bat tight in white-knuckled grip. Theo went after them with Scott bringing up the rear; managing to spare Isaac a thankful look as he rushed past.

The rest of the way was free of guards, but the closer they go to the edge of the basement, the more they could sense that something was definitely not right in the air. It affected Scott and Malia especially; Theo theorized that it was because of their werewolf genes because even though he and Corey could sense the same thing, neither of them were as affected as Scott and Malia.

The entire hallway was dark, illuminated sporadically in spots by the lights above head flickering in and out of existence. But the closer they got to wherever the path was leading them, the brighter everything started to become until they happened on what seemed to the end of the hallway; the perimeter marked by thick, steel bars that were welded into the ground and the wall, actively blocking their path.

This time, Scott took point, Theo falling back on his left hand side and Malia walking up to his right. Stiles, Mason and Corey flanked them from behind, keeping a close eye on the surrounding and whatever threat that might suddenly jump out from the darkness.

The closer they came to the bars, the more it became obvious that it wasn’t put there to keep them from escaping but to keep them from getting closer to whatever was beyond the protection of the cylindrical steel.

Just beyond the precipice, illuminated by the brightest light shining in the ceiling right in the center of the small makeshift cell was a metal, reinforced chair bolted straight into the ground, and in it was a slumped over figure; his ankles shackled to the legs of the chair with thick, unyielding metal cuffs and his arms circled around the back of the chair, chained together behind him. His head was bowed low over his chest, his tousled hair a mess and hanging down, hiding his face from view and his shirt, which had at one point been a pale red colour, almost hidden under a black jeans jacket, was almost black with dried blood which trailed down his entire side and down the leg of his pants. Behind him, hanging from a metal pole was some sort of makeshift saline bag, but instead of the clean, clear liquid that it usually held, the liquid inside was a pale yellow; trickling down a thin tube leading down from it towards his left arm.

“Liam!” shouted Scott. He and Theo both moved together, running up to the bars that separated them from Liam and grasping on at almost the exact same time.

It was the smell that hit him first, which was the oddest sensation. Theo didn’t know that electricity had a smell, but he couldn’t concentrate on anything else in that moment when the smell reached his nostrils before the jolt rushed through him like the sharpest, most concentrated amount of pins and needles coursing through his entire body all at once, lifting both him and Scott up off their feet before they could even verbalize a sound and sending them flying back almost hallway down the way they came before they crashed into the wall and landed a groaning, painful heap on the floor.

They could hear the remnants of the electricity zapping across the metal as the rest of the pack rushed over to check on them.

“Are you guys okay?” asked Mason when he reached them first, grabbing onto Scott’s upper arm and pulling him to his feet, Corey doing the same with Theo.

“I’m okay,” said Scott with a painful groan.

“Yeah,” Theo said, not sounding any better than Scott at the moment.

They didn’t dwell long on the aches and pain and immediately marched back over to the bars, this time standing about a foot away, the safest distance they could reach because even from that distance they could feel the electricity causing the hairs on their arms to stand on end.

“Liam!” Scott yelled again, his voice dripping with fear and worry. “Liam, can you hear me? It’s Scott and Theo and everyone. We’re here to save you,” he yelled.

“Liam,” Theo yelled, backing up Scott’s word.

Liam didn’t stir or even seemed to be aware of their presence. Theo could hear the sound of his heart beating and his lungs inhaling oxygen, but his heartbeat was too weak and his breathing sounded heavy and wet, like it wasn’t just air that was moving through his lungs which was the most worrying part. The bleeding seemed to have stopped at some point, but it wasn’t an indication of how severe his injuries really were.

“We need to find a way to turn off the electricity,” said Stiles, using his bat to tentatively poke as close to the metal bars as he could. A zap caught the tip of the bat and sent it flying out of his hands, causing him to yelp.

“It’s not just the electricity,” Scott said, his brows furrowed and his eyes showing fury as he lifted his hand up, palm out, reaching close to the bar. The blue electricity latched onto his hand but he didn’t seem to be aware of the way it was burning the surface of his skin. His burned palm was barely an inch away from the bars when it happened, the electricity flickered blue, but instead of the small lightning flashes that zapped in and out of existence, it was almost like a blue wave that rippled in the air where his palm was touching, stopping it from getting any closer.

Theo almost exhaled the words when the realization struck him.

“Mountain ash.”

**Tbc.**


	17. Some People Just Deserve a Good Killing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to the absolutely amazing, breathtakingly fantastic human beings that are **TrashWrites** and the equally flaw free and perpetually perceptive **darnnagini** ; the two mind-bogglingly wonderful commenters who just know all the right things to say to me and the kind of commenter a writer only ever dreams of getting.

 

“Mountain ash where?” asked Malia.

Scott had pulled back his hand, cradling it to his chest, his eyes dark and downcast. “In the wall… in the floor…” he said, “And in the bars.” His voice was thick and Theo could see the way his eyes were almost glistening under the light. “It’s everywhere.”

“Very smart, Scott.”

A new voice; a familiar voice, resonated out of the darkness before a figure stepped out from the shadow behind Liam. “But like with reality, being smart in theory gets you nowhere in life.”

“Monroe,” growled Scott, his eyes flashing red and his fangs bared.

“You bitch,” cursed Malia, “Why are you doing this?”

Monroe scoffed when she came into view; a smirk curling at the edge of her lips. She looked different than the last time any of them saw her. Even in all the fanatic madness she showed back then when she attacked the school and the hospital, trying to kill them all, there was still a sense of humanity that they could see behind her eyes. But this time there was nothing. It was like she was only a person in outward appearances; there was not a single shred of humanity they could see residing in her gaze.

She was carrying handguns on both sides of her hip and an automatic rifle slung on her back.

“Me?” she asked with an over exaggerated scoff, pointing her herself with both hands. “I’m doing what I’ve always been doing: trying to save humanity from creatures like you.”

“By kidnapping and torturing an innocent teenager? By murdering people in cold blood?” said Stiles. “The only thing humanity needs saving from is people like you and Gerard, and at least we’ve crossed one name of that list.”

“You don’t have any right to speak for humanity,” she spat, “ _Werewolf lover_. You’re as bad as the supernatural abominations you befriend and protect.”

“You have no right to speak for humanity either!” yelled Mason. “You’re the absolute worst thing humanity has to offer.”

Monroe laughed at that. “Dumb children. You think you know the world? You think you’ve seen real ugliness? You think you’ve seen real evil? You wouldn’t even know evil when it’s staring you in the face.”

“Oh I don’t know, real evil is definitely staring me in the face right now,” said Mason.

“Look, Monroe,” said Scott, getting between them. “Your fight is with me. You want _me_ , just… just let Liam go, he has nothing to do with any of this. Take me instead, I’ll go with you without a fight, I promise.”

Monroe sneered, walking over to stand behind Liam, her left hand reaching over to stroke his hair in a mocking way.

“Don’t you touch him!” Theo growled.

Monroe just scoffed. “What will you do? You can’t touch me,” she said, “But I’m free to touch him all I want.” Her hand moved to trail down the side of Liam’s face, but he didn’t stir even once under her touch.

Scott’s growl vibrated through the hall as he watched Monroe closely with his red eyes flashing.

Monroe cupped Liam’s chin in her palm, lifting his head up and bringing it back to rest against her stomach.

Liam’s eyes were open, but his gaze was unseeing. He had prominent dark circles under his eyes and blood trailing down the side of his face, from a cut underneath his hairline, and more trails of dried blood down the side of his mouth and chin.

“Liam!” Scott, Mason and Theo yelled almost at the same time. “Liam, it’s going to be okay,” Scott added, “Just hang in there buddy. It’s going to be okay.”

But Liam didn’t answer, though he blinked once and his gaze shifted to where they were standing, there wasn’t any recognition in his eyes.

Theo could feel his own heart breaking in his chest. He took a step forward, reaching out towards the bars once again, but before he could even make contact, he felt the electricity once again coursing through his body, sending him flying back across the room. He could hear Monroe’s laugh somewhere in the back of his mind and it only spurred on the anger inside him.

“Please,” Scott pleaded just a Theo limped his way back up to where the rest were standing. “I’ll do anything. Just… please just take me.”

“But I don’t _want_ you Scott,” said Monroe as a jeer. “I just want the world to see all of you for what you really are: _monsters_. No one in Beacon Hills seems to grasp just how dangerous you all are, at least, none of them acted on that fear until the Anuk-Ite showed them the truth in their fear. All those… _werewolf lovers_ like Stilinski and the faculty of the school and the hospital; none of them seem to understand that you’re all monsters and killers and beasts!” she yelled, a growing level of insanity in her gaze that was even more worrying. “I just wanted to show them—I just wanted them to see the truth!”

“The truth?” scoffed Stiles. “The truth is there’s only one real monster here,” he said, “And that’s _you_.”

That halted Monroe in her tracks momentarily, as if she was actually giving Stiles’s words a moment of thought. But as abruptly as the insanity left her gaze, it was back in full force before she reached back to something behind her and pulled out a shining dagger from the sheath hidden behind her back.

“No!” yelled Scott, reaching out to the bars subconsciously before the current forced him to pull his hands back.

“Don’t, please,” pleaded Mason.

Theo couldn’t find the words to verbalize his feelings. It felt like his heart was doing its best to punch through his ribcage, trying to break free from his chest cavity. He couldn’t take his eyes off Liam, willing Liam to actually turn to meet his eyes—to do something… to show him that he was still in there. “Liam,” he said, almost a whisper that the people around him couldn’t even have heard, but somehow… somehow Liam’s gaze shifted slightly and his half lidded, glazed over eyes turned to lock onto Theo’s.

His lips moved a fraction, his voice coming out like the sound of air but Theo could make out his lips verbalizing his name and he tried not to let his smile shine too bright on his face.

“Maybe you’re right,” said Monroe. Theo finally looked away from Liam to stare at Monroe whose hand holding the dagger was resting precariously on Liam’s shoulder. “I never thought I’d hear myself actually say the words, you know? But… thinking about it, I feel like it does roll of the tongue smoother than I would have expected. You’re monsters,” she said, “And so am I.”

Everything after that happened like it was in slow motion; Scott and Theo barely had any time to react and the scream was barely out of everyone’s mouth when Monroe raised the dagger, the glinting tip facing away from her thumb and she brought it down swift and pitilessly, burying the blade deep in the side of Liam’s stomach.

Liam finally reacted; his eyes clenched shut and the only noise he made was the sound of his breath being driven from his lungs.

“ _No!_ ” was Scott’s screaming growl that reverberated through the whole building, echoed by Theo and Mason’s own.

Monroe just smirked before she ripped out the blade from Liam’s body, allowing the blood to start pouring down his side and dripping down to pool on the floor under his seat.

The only sound that escaped him then was a terrible sobbing whimper just as Monroe released the hold she had on his chin, letting his head slump back down over his chest once again.

“ _Liam!”_ growled Scott once again, his eyes flashing a red so dark it was almost black. The intensity radiating off him forced Theo to take a step back and out of the way, and even though none of the their human friends could feel the true power of an alpha the way werewolves could, everyone standing around Scott could feel it coming off him in waves at that moment.

Before anyone could react; Monroe was still wearing the satisfied smirk on her face as she surveyed the scene in front of her eyes; Scott’s reached out once again, grabbing onto the bars with clawed fists, the electricity jolts latching onto him like gleaming blue leeches. But instead of it grasping on and propelling him back the way it did the first time, it just hovered around him like a barrier. The combination of the electricity running through the bars and the mountain ash embedded in the wall, floor and the bars itself – it vibrated in the air like a rippling barrier, trying hard to keep Scott out and burn through him like fire in the same breath, but Scott held on. The mountain ash was pulsing in the air like a heartbeat, almost in synch with the thundering of Scott’s own heart.

Everyone had to cover their faces with their arms from the sheer force radiating off him.

Theo glanced over at Monroe through the top of his arms, squinting against the pulsation of the barrier working overtime to keep Scott out. He didn’t have time to bask in the satisfied feeling seeing Monroe’s smug face twisted into something akin to concern as she continue watching Scott pushing against the invisible barrier keeping him from his beta.

The smell of flesh burning was potent in the air, and Theo could see the way the skin on Scott’s hands and arms were being scorched by the heat of the current, combined with the power of the mountain ash trying to keep his supernatural side at bay. But Scott himself didn’t seem to be aware of it happening or even the pain. His eyes were flashing and his teeth were bared in a predatory growl that rippled through Theo, causing the little hairs on the back of his arms to stand on end. His gaze was focused fully on Liam sitting limp in the chair in the middle of the room, barely five feet away from them, the blood pooling under his seat growing larger by the second.

Theo looked up again and found that Monroe was no longer anywhere in sight. She’d obviously escaped out the way she came when it became obvious that nothing was going to keep Scott away from Liam.

Liam stirred suddenly, catching Theo’s attention; his head lifted slowly and weakly, like he barely had the strength of keep his head up and his eyes focused, but his gaze found Scott’s almost immediately; his mouth, fresh blood staining his lips and slowly trickling down the side of his chin, parted and the word that came tumbling out was barely audible, but obviously to Scott it sounded like it had been said through a loud speaker.

Liam was calling for Scott.

In that moment, Scott roared and it wasn’t a sound Theo had ever heard before. It vibrated through the walls, through the whole building, shaking the ground under their feet. All of them were forced to reach up and cover their ears from the sheer power of the sound.

Scott pushed through the mountain ash, causing cracks to form in the rippling barrier as the electricity continued to rage around him like blue wildfire; charring his clothes and burning his skin. His burned, blistered hands tightened around the bar in his grip, almost bending the steel in his powerful grasp and with one final heave and a growl that seemed to radiate out of his very soul, he ripped the metal bars right out of the wall, shattering the barrier and causing a rippling effect that threw everyone to the ground.

Theo was the first to recover as the dust started settling; he found Scott on his hands and knees, doubled over panting and heaving in pain. He stirred when he noticed the movement and his eyes glanced up to meet Theo’s.

“Get Liam,” he said, his throat raw and his voice raspy.

Theo didn’t have to be told twice. He ran over, jumping over the broken pieces of sharpened metal still sticking out of the ground and came to a halt skidding on his knees in front of Liam.

He could feel the adrenalin coursing through his body, as if his own power had been increased by just being in the vicinity of an alpha at full strength. He ripped the shackles around Liam’s ankles without exerting barely any effort and crushed the ones holding Liam’s arms painfully strict behind his back. And in a more gentle way, pulled the needled that was supplying whatever poison Monroe had dosed him with out of his vein.

He caught Liam before he could collapse forward once his hands were freed, cradling him gently in his arms; his head lolling limply onto Theo’s shoulder as Theo slowly lowered him onto the floor, keeping his upper body held tight against his chest.

He sensed the others rushing up, Stiles half carrying a limping Scott by the shoulder. Malia was on her knees before she could come to a stop across from him on Liam’s other side, ripping off her jacket to use it as a compress to stop the blood still flowing freely from his stab wound. Mason dropped down to his knees on his right, cradling Liam’s head gently in his hands and allowing Theo’s arms to reach over to help Malia to try and staunch the bleeding.

“Liam,” called Mason, patting Liam gently on the cheek. “Come on, Liam, hang in there, man. Please. I love you. Please hold on.”

But Liam didn’t stir.

Scott slowly kneeled down beside Malia, reaching over with his shaking, burned hands to take Liam’s in a grip. “Liam, it’s okay. You’re going to be okay,” he said, rubbing the least burned part of his hands on the back of Liam’s hand in a reassuring way.

“Guys… you hear that?” asked Corey. He was looking around the room at something unseen.

It wasn’t until Theo focused that he heard what Corey was talking about.

It was a whirring sound like some machine had been turned on and a hissing sound that was slowly coming closer and closer to their location. There was a sudden click, like a flap had been opened and from the vents that lined the upper parts of the wall all way up and down the hall, a pale yellow gassy substance came flowing through, drowning the room they were in before any of them could even react.

“What the hell!” yelped Malia, reaching up to cover her mouth and nose, but it was futile. All of them had inhaled a considerable amount before they even realized what was happening. But as quickly as the gas came, it stopped and the remnants just evaporated into the air before the whirring wounds of the machinery stopped along with it.

“We need to get out of here,” said Scott, “ _Now_. We need to go now!”

“What the hell was that?” Stiles almost yelled, forcing himself to cough as if the act could expel whatever he’d inhaled back out of his lungs.

“I don’t know, but if it’s Monroe, it’s definitely nothing good,” said Scott.

The sound of footsteps rushing towards their location brought a flustered and slightly bloodied Isaac into the fray.

“What the fuck was that?” he asked the moment his eyes fell on the rest of the pack.

“Nothing good. We need to go. _Now_!”

Isaac didn’t need to be told anything twice by Scott. He moved swiftly, stepping up and taking Scott’s arms in his, slinging it over his shoulder and pulling him up into a standing position.

“I’ll help you,” Malia said, motioning to Liam but Theo just shook his head.

“Just keep pressure on the wound,” he said, circling one of Liam’s arms around his shoulder and reaching an arm under his knees, lifting Liam’s limp figure in his arms and holding his close to his chest.

He and Malia walked in step. Malia keeping her arm on Liam’s still freely bleeding wound while Theo walked with him carefully, trying not to jolt any of his injuries. Scott bringing up the rear, held up between Isaac on his left and Stiles on his right, both of them having put aside their differences in that moment to focus on the more important thing at hand.

Mason brought up the rear, holding Stiles’s bat tight in his grip, keeping an eye on everything so nothing could creep up behind them unseen and Corey was taking point ahead of the group, turning invisible every time he had to pass by a darkened corridor to make sure it was empty.

Liam hadn’t stirred once since he called out to Scott and Theo tried not to let his worry show too much, but he was sure everyone could feel it radiating off him like a beacon.

Liam needed help and he could only pray that it wasn’t too late.

But if they were hoping for a quick, uneventful exit, then they were out of luck.

It was the sound of guns being cocked that reached their ears first, and out of the dark stepped two men dressed similarly to the guards Isaac had taken out when they were making their way in. Their rifles cocked and aimed at the group.

Isaac immediately let go of Scott who was struggling to regain his strength, pushing him gently into Stiles’s hold before he stepped up ahead of the group. Theo slowly lowered Liam down to the ground, as Mason stepped up to them, crouching down to take a hold of Liam before Theo mimicked Isaac’s action, using his body like a shield to protect the pack from the two mercenaries that had appeared. He sensed Malia stepping up beside him before he saw her in his periphery.

“Two guys,” she said, cocking her head slightly, “We can take them.”

She clenched her fist tight, Isaac doing a similar thing before they whipped out their claws, opening their mouth to let out growl.

But nothing happened.

Their hands remained claw-less and their eyes stayed the same. Both of them could only stare at their hands confusedly and at each other before turning around to stare worriedly at Scott, as if he could explain what was happening, or rather, what wasn’t happening.

Scott stared back equally as confused, staring at his still shaking hands and obviously trying to get his claws to come out, but failing.

The two mercenaries guffawed at their plight.

Theo looked at Malia and Isaac and back at Scott before turning to look down at his own hands. He didn’t feel any different; the prickling, tingling feeling in his fingers was still ever present. He could still feel the burning rage of the wolf inside his soul and the coyote wrapped around it like a mist. It was still there, he could still feel it and he could still touch it with his mind.

The mercenaries had lowered their weapons, obviously content that the enemies before them no longer posed any threat and had opted to go with door number two, which was to taunt them before killing them all. That was their biggest mistake, because they were standing between Theo and the help that Liam so desperately needed, and the wolf inside Theo’s soul was howling for blood.

He roared.

His claws ripped through his cuticles and the pain of it was like a comforting friend. He could feel his fangs when he ran his tongue across it: it still tasted of the blood he’d spilled that night in the parking lot of the hospital, and his vision tunnelled to a point where he wasn’t seeing the people standing in front of him, instead he was seeing the vibrant warmth of the blood rushing through their veins.

Neither of them had time to react to the unexpected turn of event before Theo pounced. It took one swipe across the throat to put the first man down in a shower of blood. The second one went down just as easily; his face ripped to unrecognizable shreds before his body thumped lifelessly to the floor.

Theo stood there panting for a solid second, looking down at the bleeding corpses at his feet, fully aware of the eyes that were staring holes into the back of his head.

“How?” asked Malia, her brows furrowed in confusion.

“Does it matter?” he said as he turned around. “We need to get out of here firs—”

He barely had time to react when the first gunshot rang out, the bulled whizzing past his head a split second after he ducked; leaping back to put his body between the new assailant and the pack behind him.

“Well, well,” came the sneering voice once again before Monroe stepped out from the darkness, her rifle cocked in their direction. “I’m honestly surprised to see you transformed,” she said, addressing Theo curiously.

“What the hell did you do?” demanded Scott, pushing off of Stiles to stand on his own two, wobbly, feet.

Monroe smirked. “Let just say… since the last time we met, I picked up a skill or two. Instead, I have a question for you Scott. Do you know what happens when a werewolf gets stabbed in the gut?”

Scott just glared but didn’t move to answer.

Monroe raised her rifle, pointing it to where untransformed Malia and Isaac were standing apart from the group. “Answer me, Scott.”

“We heal,” said Scott through gritted teeth.

“Correct! Now… do you know what happens to a human that gets stabbed the same way, in the very same spot?”

Scott growled under his breath.

“I can’t hear you, Scott—but never mind, I’ll answer this question for you,” she said. “They _don’t_ heal and they’ll die if they don’t get immediate help.”

“What’s your point, Monroe? And what did you do to us?”

“I think I overestimated you this entire time…” she said, tsk-ing disappointedly. “What I mean is you better get you favourite little beta there help and soon. Otherwise—well, lets just say that his blood will literally be on your hands.”

Their attention immediately turned to Liam who was still unconscious in Mason’s arms. The skin around his wrist was bruised and bloodied and though Mason was keeping the pressure firm on the wound on his stomach, a puddle of blood on the floor had grown in the time they’d spent there talking.

Liam wasn’t healing.

And from the looks of it, neither was Scott.

“You—what did you do!”

Monroe scoffed disgustedly. “I found you a cure,” she spat. “You should thank me.” She adjusted her rifle to aim at Scott then. “This time, Scott, you don’t have your healing powers to save you.”

Theo moved immediately, putting his body between the barrel of Monroe’s rifle and the figure of Scott she was aiming at just as the deafening explosion of a gunshot rang out in the small confined space.

Theo was fully prepared to feel the burning agony of the bullet ripping through his body.

But there was no pain.

He opened his eyes, not even realizing that he’d clenched them shut, to find Monroe’s smirk wiped from her face; her mouth downturned into a frown and her expression as confused as theirs as to the origin of the blast.

Theo had just enough time to turn around and share a look with an equally confused Scott before turning back to look at Monroe, just in time to see her body jolt suddenly and blood started pouring out of her mouth and nose, and tickling out her ears. The look on her face was of confusion and pure agony before the gun slipped from her hands, her eyes rolled back into her head and her body tilting forward almost in slow motion before she collapsed, landing a crumpled, unmoving heap on the cold, stone floor at Theo’s feet.

Monroe was dead.

In the dark behind her, there was the glint of a still smoking gun barrel, cocked and aimed at the place where Monroe had just been standing. The gun moved slowly into the light, an arm covered in a dirty brown jacket; following it were strong, wide shoulders and a face that was blissfully familiar.

Scott almost cried from relief when he said, “Argent,” with so much reverence, and Theo wouldn’t even have blamed him if he had.

**Tbc.**


	18. The Door

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, this chapter is dedicated to everyone who’s been keeping up with it since the beginning and have left such amazing, lovely reviews, but especially to TrashWrites and darnnagini who continue to astound me with their kind, amazing words and everything they have to say about the story and all the praises they give me. I try to improve my writing and tell my stories better so that I continue to entertain every one of you and bring you guys continuous enjoyment (in the form of lots of pain and angst).

 

It was indeed the figure of Chris Argent standing before them in all his rugged, sullen glory. His face stern and his shoulders squared. The smoking gun still clutched tight in his grip as his eyes continued staring blankly at the dead figure of Monroe who lay crumpled on the ground.

“You kids okay?” he asked, his deep voice resounding like a bellow in the hallway.

“We’re okay,” said Theo, “But Liam’s not. Monroe did something to him, Scott, Malia and Isaac.”

Argent’s face was grim when he exhaled. “As I feared,” he said. “I’ll explain everything I know later, for now we need to leave—”

“ _Liam_ ,” It was Mason’s voice calling the name, attracting everyone’s attention and bringing Theo and Scott almost immediately to his side.

Theo kneeled down on the ground beside Liam’s thigh, reached over to grasp his limp hand in his. Scott did the same, but used the uninjured part of his hand to reach over to stroke Liam’s damp hair back from his forehead gently.

Liam didn’t seem to be conscious, but they could see the movement of his eyeballs behind his closed lids and his lips parted slightly when he exhaled. His breathing was ragged and pained, and sweat was beading on his forehead, trickling down his face to splash on Mason’s arm that was holding him up by the shoulders, clutched firm against his chest.

Slowly, his eyes cracked open; his usual lively pale green irises looking almost dull and grey under the light. He could barely open his eyes fully but at least he managed it even a fraction, his gaze staring up at the ceiling above his head like he didn’t even notice the group of people huddled around him like a barrier.

“Liam,” Scott called softly, using the tone of voice usually only reserved for Liam. His own hands were still raw and blistered, burned down to the muscle in places but he didn’t seem to feel the pain at all. “Liam, it’s Scott,” he said, “You’re okay now. You’re safe.”

Liam didn’t meet his eyes.

“Hey, man, it’s Mason. You’re alright now,” he said, copying Scott’s word, his voice almost dripping with desperation, as if he tried hard enough he could latch onto Liam’s waning spirit and hold on. “You’re going to be okay.”

Liam blinked and his gaze finally shifted to stare at Scott, eliciting a sad, teary smile as he grasped on tighter onto Liam’s hand. “You’re going to be okay, Liam. You’re going to be fine – just hold, on, Liam. Please hold on,” he pleaded. “Where does it hurt? Tell me where it hurts. I’ll make it better, I promise.”

Liam finally reacted to that. His lips parted as if to speak though his voice came out hesitant and barely above a whisper. “… _doesn’t_ …” he exhaled with a heavy breath, “… _hurt_ …”

Theo didn’t think he’d ever seen heartbreak as apparent on someone’s face as he saw on Scott’s face in that moment, before his breath hitched and he choked back sob. “Oh, Liam,” he said, the tears trickling freely down his face by that point. “You’re going to be okay. You’ll be okay, I’ll take care of it, I’ll take care of you,” he begged, the hand stroking Liam’s hair reaching down to cup the side of his cheek. “Please hang on, please.”

Liam’s breath was rattling inside his chest before he coughed out painful, wet blood that stained his lips. His eyes clenched shut.

Scott and Mason sobbed but Theo couldn’t find it in him to shed even a single tear, instead he leapt to action; sliding in between Mason and Liam, cradling his body against his own. He heard Mason sprawl onto the ground beside him when he took back his position, holding Liam close to him; one arm around his back and the other reaching to grasp the hand lying limp in his bloodied chest.

“Liam,” he said, “You’re going to be okay. You listen to Scott, alright, listen to the sound of his voice and the sound of my voice, you hold on to it, hear? Don’t let go,” he said, bending down slightly to stare into Liam’s eyes. Liam didn’t say anything in return but the recognition in his eyes was answer enough. “You’re not dying today, you hear? Not when I’m here, not when… not when we just found each other – not when we were just starting to figure out what _this_ is,” he said. His hand gripped onto Liam’s with as much power as he could without hurting the other boy and he tried desperately to tap into the memory of that night at the hospital, trying to recall the feeling and the sensation that pulsated through his body; trying to remember what he did and how he did it, when he opened his soul and allowed some of Gabe’s pain to flow into him. He needed to do that, he needed to open himself up, he needed to let Liam in, he needed to let his pain in and ease his burden as much as he could.

That night, it was like a door that had creeped open, allowing a fraction of the pain to flow through; it wasn’t much, but it was as much relief as Gabe needed and Theo had given him that. The memory of that moment still latched on tight onto his mind, and he could stop thinking about it, he couldn’t stop feeling it every time he closed his eyes to sleep at night.

He needed to remember it again. He needed to let his instinct take control.

_‘You can’t take pain if you don’t care.’_

That’s what Mason had said and the words stuck with him from that moment on.

He couldn’t take pain if he didn’t care.

But he didn’t care about Gabe, so how did he manage to do that?

He didn’t care about Gabe, but in that moment, it wasn’t Gabe that he saw crying, choking on his own blood. It was many faces that flashed through his mind one by one. It was Tracy’s and Josh’s and Scott’s when he skewered him through the chest with his claws. It was his parent’s faces that he saw when the Doctors killed them and buried them under ash and concrete, never to be discovered. It was the faces of everyone he ever hurt with his own two hands or through indifference when he turned the other cheek to their pleading.

It was Tara’s face; her beautiful face and her long black hair that fall down past her shoulders. Her hair that she liked to keep up in a lose ponytail or in a messy twisty bun, held in place with a pencil or a pen or anything she had on that to keep her hair out of her face.

It was his own face, but not the face he saw when he looked in the mirror in the morning; the cold, dead eyes staring back at him almost unrecognizable; it was the face he had before he left his sister to die in the creak and took her heart as his own.

He saw all those faces before it finally morphed back into Gabe and in that moment, Theo only saw a scared boy in agony, absolutely terrified of dying.

The door creaked open a little bit then.

But this wasn’t Gabe. This was _Liam_ , and Theo would move mountains and part seas before he let anything happen to him.

“You’re not going to die, Liam. I won’t let you,” he said, “Because… because…” he swallowed once, staring at Liam’s eyes that were slow slipping shut again – “Because I love you,” he said before he bent down and planted a kiss on Liam’s cold, blue tinted lips.

He didn’t just crack the door open a fraction then, he blew it completely off its hinges, and the darkness poured into him like a broken dam of agony and suffering and fear but he imbibed it. He took it all in. He could feel his blood boiling under his skin, and the cracks forming in the lining of his bones. He could feel the gush of blood inside his lungs and agony that exploded through his entire body, but he accepted it all. It felt like years and centuries of throbbing agony and molten fear trying to burst out of his very skin before it all of a sudden stopped. The flow ceased and he felt himself being thrown backwards onto the stone cold floor, panting.

Slowly the feeling returned to his limbs and his blood stopped feeling like it was made of lava but he couldn’t muster up the energy to push himself up. He soon found himself in a sitting position anyway and the familiar scent of Malia so close to his person.

“Hey, you okay?” he heard another voice, a male one, and even though it sounded familiar, he couldn’t place it. “Theo?” eventually his hearing returned enough for him to finally make it out.

It was Stiles crouched down in front of him, a hand on his shoulder in a comforting way.

Malia was crouched behind his back, holding him upright.

“I’m okay,” he managed, “How’s Liam?” he asked instead; the only answer that mattered to him in that moment.

“He’s resting,” came Scott’s voice somewhere behind Stiles.

Stiles moved to stand, getting out of Theo’s line of sight and allowing him to see Liam being cradled gently in Scott’s strong arms. It seemed like someone had pried Liam out of his grip and thrown him back at some point. Scott seemed to sense his train of thought because he said, “You were taking too much of his pain too quick. You would have died.”

Theo managed to get his breathing under control before he crawled back over to Scott and Liam, looking down at Liam’s face: his eyes were closed and his lips were slightly parted as he breathed in and out, but he just looked like he was sleeping, instead of just absent and in unconscious suffering.

“I don’t know how you did it,” said Scott again, “But you manged to stop the bleeding as well. That… That doesn’t usually happen.”

Theo just shrugged. “But we still need to get him help,” he said. “He isn’t healing, and neither are you.”

“What about the rest of the guards?” asked Isaac, turning his attention to Argent standing behind surveying the scene with aloof interest.

It seemed like Isaac’s presence had gone unnoticed by Argent because he did a double take when Isaac spoke, though he didn’t bring attention to it. “I saw about half a dozen Humvee’s rolling into the compound as I was making my way in. If they didn’t know we were here, Scott’s roar and the sounds of the gunshots would definitely have alerted them. We’re going to have to tread this very carefully.”

“I can’t transform,” said Malia, looking at her human hands and back up at Argent as if expecting him to know the answer.

Argent just sighed. “I don’t know the details, but Monroe managed to create some kind of drug that suppresses a werewolf’s ability to transform and heal. That’s what the dead bodies were about. They were her test subjects. And from the looks of it, she used it on all of you, which is why we need to get Liam to a hospital quick, because as far as his body understands… right now, he’s just human and as vulnerable as one.”

Argent holstered his gun and slung his rifle across his back before walking over to where Scott was still kneeling on the ground with Liam in his arms. He moved without word, bending down and scooping Liam up in his strong arms before he straightened back up, letting Liam’s head lol limply against his shoulder.

“Is that why Theo wasn’t affected?” asked Mason as all eyes fell on him, Theo’s included. All their gazes curious about what his theory was and Mason looked genuinely surprised that none of them seemed to have come to the same conclusion he had. “Because he’s a chimera, and not a full werewolf?”

The thought made sense and Theo immediately turned his eyes to Corey, saying with just his eyes to test out Mason’s theory.

Corey blended into the background and disappeared from their sight the moment his hand came into contact with the steel wall behind him.

“That bitch,” Isaac spat, rounding out the theme of the day.

“How are we going to fight our way out of here with just one person strong enough to take them on?” asked Stiles.

“Two,” came a sheepish voice as Corey rematerialized into view.

“Huh?”

“Two,” repeated Corey. “Two people strong enough to take them on,” he said, even though the fear radiating off him was obvious to anyone looking.

“I can carry him,” said Mason, stepping up to Argent. “We need you and your guns if we’re going to stand a chance.”

Argent reluctantly relinquished his hold on Liam. With his hands now freed he handed two of the guns to Malia and Isaac who took point ahead of the group.

“Argent,” called Scott as they were just about to continue on their way. Argent turned around, but didn’t immediately meet Scott’s eyes. “Thanks,” he said as Isaac helped him into a standing position.

Argent looked unexpectedly saddened by Scott’s appreciation because he shifted slightly in his step. “An Argent was the cause of… all of _this_ ,” he said, his voice grave, “An Argent should be the one to end it,” he said.

Scott didn’t seem to know what to say to that, so he just nodded.

They continued on after that, the silence stilted and filled with unease, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Mostly everyone was just on their toes keeping an eye out for whoever was out there looking to cause them more harm.

Scott looked more than frustrated at himself by the fact that he could barely keep himself on his feet, needing Stiles to rush over and catch him when his knees unexpectedly buckled under his weight. Theo understood the helplessness in Scott’s eyes more than he cared to let on.

“It’s okay, Scott,” he said, “I got your back.” Scott’s reply was all in his gaze, both appreciation and anger at his own helplessness, but he nodded.

The rest of the way was without incident. Theo spearheaded the group, being flanked by Corey, Malia and Isaac; Stiles and Scott followed at a slower pace behind Mason carrying an unconscious Liam, protected in the middle of the group and Chris Argent and his rifle bringing up the rear.

The upper level seemed far too quiet when they approached which only caused the tension among the pack to grow.

The mayhem started without warning, sending all of them leaping for cover, out of sight; the sound of explosive gunfire going off seemingly everywhere inside the building; rattling the windows and doors. It was the sound of gunfire being exchanged because it wasn’t just the sound of the automatic rifles the mercenaries had been seen carrying; there were a variety of weapon going off almost simultaneously, making it apparent that whoever Monroe’s people were engaging on the upper level, there was more than one person. Either that or it was one person who was armed to the teeth.

The second sound that came without warning was the roar that resounded even over the deafening hail of gunfire.

This time, Scott actually let out a relieved laugh that confused every single person present.

“Not the best time to suddenly understand the punchline of a joke, Scott,” said Stiles.

But Scott’s smile didn’t falter, instead it grew even brighter. “No,” he said, “It’s the best time.”

“What do you mean?” asked Argent.

“Did you hear that sound?”

“The gunfire? Pretty hard to miss, Scotty,” said Stiles.

“No, the other one,” said Scott with a shake of his head.

“It was a roar,” said Theo. Obviously the sound had only been clear to him and Scott.

Scott met his eyes and beamed. “Yes,” he said, his chest almost puffing out with pride. “But it’s not just any roar,” he explained. “It’s Derek.”

“Derek? How do you know?” asked Stiles, turning around to look as if the werewolf himself would all of a sudden appear in their line of sight. “I can’t hear a damn thing over the noise.”

“Because I’d know Derek’s roar anywhere, even without my werewolf hearing,” explained Scott. “If Derek’s here, then…” he inhaled deeply, a flicker of hope that hadn’t been there in a long time reignited in his eyes, “Then we have a chance.”

“He’s not alone either,” said Theo. He wasn’t looking at Scott or at anyone among the pack, instead staring off at a spot in the distance as he focused every ounce of his concentration on his hearing. He could isolate the footsteps of the mercenaries running around; their heavy boots making a distinct thumping on the floor every time they moved, and the sound of their voices and the distinct accents they had – whoever these people were, Monroe had obviously been shopping in the foreign black market. He didn’t really know Derek all that well, mainly he only knew _of_ him from what he’d read in the Doctor’s files they had on the Hales, but knowing who to look for made it easier to pinpoint him as a separate entity from the others. There was definitely someone else with him, someone whose footsteps were much lighter and much smaller in comparison to the mercenaries and Derek himself, which meant that it was either a younger person or a female that was with him. It didn’t really matter; Theo would accept Barney the dinosaur as backup at that point as long as it aided them in getting Liam the help he desperately needed.

“Can you hear them?” asked Argent from the rear.

“Not so much hear, more like make out how many people there are and where they all are. There’s a particular one that keeps running around and whenever the sound of their footsteps stop, another body hits the ground hard.”

“Are you sure? It’s… if it’s who I think it is then we definitely have a shot at getting out of here in one piece,” said Scott.

“Well, then what are we lounging around here for? If I don’t see in the underside of another basement for the rest of my life then it’ll be too soon,” said Stiles, readjusting his hold on Scott.

“How’s Liam,” Theo asked.

Mason’s lack of a verbal answer wasn’t very encouraging. He’d lowered Liam to the ground when they stopped and was propping him up against his chest, holding him tight in his arms. He tore his eyes away from Liam’s slack face to look at Theo, shaking his head slowly. “The bleeding’s stopped, but… he’s not doing good. The wound… it looks like it’s getting infected,” he said, his eyes wide and fearful.

Stiles and Theo both swore.

“We have to get him to the hospital now,” said Scott, turning to address Argent. “Try calling my mom; make sure she knows to expect us.”

Argent nodded, adjusting his rifle in his grasp before pulling out a too large phone that looked more like a relic from the Stone Age than a means of communication in the twenty-first century.

The closer they came to the entrance of the basement, the lesser the sound of gunfire could be heard until one final shot rang out and there was a thump of a body that had obviously fallen from a great height, and then there was only silence and the smell of burned metal and gunpowder residue thick in the air.

“Can you see anyone?”

Theo peered around the bend into the now silent area of the ground floor of the building; the smell was more potent the closer they got, not only the smell of gunpowder and charred metal, but also the metallic smell of blood, the entire building was saturated in it.

The movement up ahead; a figure running between two machines caught his eyes and he immediately ducked back out of sight, until he heard the sound, a voice softly calling out Scott’s name.

“Scott’s here,” he yelled back, “He and Liam are hurt.”

The moment he said that two figures emerged from across the doorway to his left; both were bloodied and covered from head to toe in dust and grime, but they were both alive and in one piece, strutting over like two people who had just successfully conquered the world.

Theo recognized Derek immediately and the smaller, female figure walking a step behind him, cautiously looking around with her rifle still cocked. Theo had only met her once in his life and that was when he betrayed her and Malia, so he forced himself to ground his feet and not take off before she shot a couple of holes in him like he deserved.

Theo sensed Stiles and Scott walking up behind him, stepping out into the open and the moment Scott’s eyes fell on Derek, the relief was palpable rolling off his shoulders like a wave.

“Derek,” he breathed like a sigh dripping of relief, “I have never been happier to see you in my life.”

“Scott,” said Derek, giving him an acknowledging nod, “Not a single phone call or even an e-mail? I won’t lie, that hurt my feelings.”

Scott just smiled, looking around Derek to the other figure approaching them. “Braeden,” he said. “Thanks.”

Braeden just smiled one of her light lipped smiles, swinging her rifle up to rest on her shoulder. “Next time you plan on taking on rogue, highly trained, black market Chechen mercs, call me. I love indulging in new activities.”

“Your hands, Scott…” said Derek when his eyes fell on Scott’s still burned appendages, “You’re not healing,” he said when the realization dawned on him.

“Monroe did something to us. Liam isn’t healing either and he’s hurt really badly. We need to get him to the hospital,” said Scott.

Derek looked over Scott’s shoulder to where Liam was still unconscious in Mason’s arms and his expression immediately turned serious. “Braeden’s truck is parked just beyond the gate.”

“That beast can mow down mercs, trees and anything the supernatural can throw at us,” she said.

With Derek and Braeden now with them, their fighting power was at least doubled what it was, even with Scott, Malia and Isaac still hobbled by Monroe’s poison. Theo walked back to where Mason was struggling more and more to keep himself and Liam upright, it was obvious that he was working more on adrenalin than actual strength and Theo had to respect that. He could see that Mason was running on empty, but he knew that he would continue carrying Liam for miles if he had to.

“I got him,” he said, circling his arm under Liam’s shoulder.

It was testament to how exhausted Mason really was that he barely put up any resistance when Theo took Liam out of his arms, before Corey appeared at his side, circling his arm around Mason’s elbow and holding him close.

“Thanks,” Mason said, though he looked disappointed in himself.

A sudden blaring alarm squealed to life when they were within sight of the main entrance where the door was obliterated and barely hanging off its hinges.

“Never met a door I couldn’t get through,” said Braeden proudly when everyone turned to look at her.

But the moment the alarm sounded, there was the rotating sound of some kind of machinery in the walls before massive bars came plummeting down from the doorframe, actively blocking off all the doors on the ground floor of the building. The buzzing sound in the air that made the hairs of everyone’s arms stand on end made it clear that the bars, like the one in the basement was electrified and was undoubtedly steeped in mountain ash just like the bars that kept them away Liam.

“What do we do now?” asked Isaac, “I doubt Scott’s up for a second round of tearing bars out of walls.”

Scott smiled a small smile at that.

“Don’t worry,” said Derek. He had his arms crossed over his chest in a show that was way too relaxed considering their predicament, surveying the bars as if it were just a minor annoyance.

“We have plenty to be worried about, Derek,” said Stiles. “Not all of us can act like stoic dour wolves in the face of danger like you.”

“I’m just thankful that I don’t have to carry your sorry ass out the door like the last time we were together,” he said, glancing amusedly at a flabbergasted Stiles. “And nice to see you too, _Isaac_ ,” he said the name in an exaggerated drawl.

There was a sudden surge of power inside the building, the lights that hadn’t been turned on all of a sudden coming on. There was the humming of electricity in the air as the lights brightened and dimmed in succession, like power was being fed through the mainline in waves. The bulbs came on a final time, shining so bright everyone almost had to cover their eyes before the glass bulbs exploded, showering the whole building in a rain of thin, tinted pieces of glass. A wave of current zapped through the bars in front of them before short circuiting, causing a puff of smoke to rise up into the air from its now malfunctioned main.

Derek looked unaffected by what just happened though the air around him was obviously pleased.

“If you will,” he said to Braeden, motioning to the now harmless steel bars that blocked their path.

“Cover your eyes and ears kids,” she said with a grin that looked way too excited, “And take cover. This is going to be loud.”

And without a second warning, she brandished a grenade from somewhere deep inside her jacket of unlimited weaponry, just as the pack managed to leap behind the machinery that flanked them on both sides, pulling the pin, releasing the clip and rolling it casually towards the door where it hit the bottom part of the bar and stayed completely still. She then made her way with far too much nonchalance towards where Derek was standing behind a giant metal gear and stepped behind it just in time before the whole front area of the building erupted in a giant razing fireball. 

When the smoke cleared, it showed the entire front entrance now a gaping hole, leading out into the darkened courtyard and the forest that lay just beyond the gates.

“Get Scott and Liam to the truck,” instructed Derek, “And whoever else needs medical attention. Braeden and I will stay behind and pick off the stragglers.”

“Theo, Mason, get Liam to Braeden’s car,” said Scott and Theo absolutely didn’t have to be told twice, taking off immediately in the direction Braeden was motioning towards. “But I’m not leaving just the two of you behind by yourselves,” he added.

“Who said we’re by ourselves?” said Derek with a knowing smirk. “Unlike you, Scott, we didn’t come without backup.”

“What Derek actually means to say is that without me, he definitely would have come without backup and most likely had gotten caught up this creek without a paddle like the rest of you,” said Braeden, stepping up and putting a hand on Derek’s chest.

“Well that’s why I keep you around,” said Derek.

“That’s why _I_ keep _you_ around. You’d be lost without me, or rather, still living in that apartment building with your evil uncle.”

“What we mean to say is: get yourself treated, get Deaton and figure out what Monroe did,” said Derek, turning his eyes to Scott. “We’ll be fine.”

Almost on cue, or like he’d intentionally timed it, a chorus of howls started up somewhere in the distance. Not just one or two, more than half a dozen, rebounding off the trees and the hills in the distance and sounding like an echo in the gully.

“Werewolves,” said Scott, amazed. “Who?”

“Everyone,” said Derek. “Everyone you ever saved. Everyone you ever helped,” he said proudly. “They came because you did the same for them and because they know that you’d do the same for them again if the situation were reversed.”

Scott looked stunned by the revelation and at a complete loss for words.

“So just go, take care of Liam and take care of yourself. The rest of you as well,” said Braeden, addressing Malia and Isaac, the only two that hadn’t yet gone ahead with Theo and Stiles who was still keeping Scott upright.

Derek took that moment to address Isaac properly for the first time. “Scott’s your alpha, you have to watch his back.”

Isaac nodded resolutely, turning to gaze at Scott.

“Go. We got this.”

“Go,” repeated Argent, cocking his rifle and nocking a bullet into the barrel obviously just for the sound effect.

And so they all turned around and headed towards the direction of Braeden’s truck. Somewhere in the distance, they could hear the echoing sounds of siren’s reverberating off the trees, headed towards their direction. Scott didn’t once turn back to look at the three figures standing side by side behind them, growing smaller the further away they got. He didn’t have to. He knew that they had his back just like he would have had their backs in a heartbeat.

**Tbc.**


	19. Alpha, Beta, Chimeras

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headed into the final hurdle guys. Be prepared for the warm fuzzies to follow :) Also, longest chapter by far, almost 10K. Once again, dedicated to all my awesome readers and commenters. Your amazing comments keep this fic alive, especially TrashWrites who's just crazy with a capital crazy (crazy awesome!) and darnnagini who keeps me sustained with her always amazing insightful comments that any and all writers would sell their soul to get.

 

The absolute first thing Melissa felt when the call came in and Chris’s voice came flowing through the receiver was relief, almost beyond words. But in hindsight she wondered whether she should have latched onto the memory of that feeling because the very next thing he said almost made her heartbeat stall inside her chest.

Scott and Liam were both hurt, Liam badly so. Melissa knew that she had to reign in her own emotions because it wouldn’t have been of any use to either of them and so she gathered her wits about her and the handful of her colleagues that – while they weren’t exactly sold on the supernatural aspect of Beacon Hills, wouldn’t freak out at the first sign of strange and waited with a gurney by the hospital entrance, waiting for the supposed _bitch-ass truck_ to come roaring into view, at least that’s what Malia had said when she called again to say that they were on route.

Melissa thought she _heard_ the truck coming long before she even saw it pulling into the front of the hospital, but from that point on everything she did was driven purely on experience and instinct because the moment the truck door opened and she caught sight of Liam unconscious in the back seat, his head resting on Theo’s lap, everything else kind of just faded away into the background. She was barking orders to the nurses, even some of the doctors who by that point had realized that Melissa was the one who _really_ ran the hospital.

Liam was loaded onto the gurney; his skin was chalk white and almost bloodless and the stab wound in his side had slowly started trickling blood again, not to mention that the entire surrounding area was red and looked painfully inflamed. The sight gave Melissa momentary pause before she grabbed the closest orderly by the upper arm. “Page Dr. Geyer,” she instructed grimly, “Tell him… tell him it’s his son.”

The medical personnel huddled closely over Liam as they wheeled him in through the front doors. Melissa hung back for a beat as Scott slowly and painfully slid out of the passenger seat, leaning heavily against the truck as Melissa convened on him, her hands reaching out to take his gently in her grip, hissing as she surveyed the damage he’d done to them.

“Get him to a bed,” she said to Stiles, “I’ll come and check his hands—”

“No, mom,” said Scott, “Take care of Liam, I’m okay. These are just superficial.”

“These are second and third degree burns, Scott,” said Melissa fearfully, “How are you not in pain?”

“ _Mom_ ,” said Scott resolutely, “I’m okay, really. Please… just take care of Liam. These will heal,” he said, “ _They will_.”

Melissa just exhaled, a small smile tugging at her lips even as she shook her head. “You really are my son,” she said. “Just… get to one of the exam rooms, I’ll send someone to take a look at you and after that I want to hear the whole story from start to finish, okay?”

“Okay, mom,” said Scott, as everyone else muttered an agreeing ‘Yes, ma’am,’ in unison.

Melissa planted a kiss on Scott’s forehead and lingered just long enough to place a comforting hand on Theo’s shoulder and an acknowledging nod at the rest of the people present, before disappearing in a jog behind the door towards the ER they’d taken Liam to.

The emergency room was a flurry of activity when she entered, doctors and nurses shuffling around, a handful convened over the gurney in the center of the room.

“How is he?” she asked when she made her way towards the center of the huddle.

“Not good. Sepsis is setting in and he’s lost a lot of blood. Also something strange is showing on his chest ultrasound but we need to do an x-ray to tell for certain what it is,” said one of the doctors. “What the hell happened to him?”

Melissa exhaled once. “Nothing any of you need to be privy to,” she said, through her eyes held an intensity that she hoped would come through and the doctor would stop asking questions to answers he probably didn’t really want to know. “We just need to fix him, that’s the priority.”

Melissa’s back was to the door, looking down at Liam lying motionless on the gurney, an oxygen mask covering his mouth and nose and too many tubes and wires leading to and from his body. In that moment, Melissa remembered just how young he really was.

She wasn’t looking at the door when it flew open and Dr. Geyer’s terrified voice came across calling his son’s name before the doctor himself materialized by her side, having pushed past a couple of people to get to the center of the room.

He immediately reached for Liam’s hand, holding it tight in his own, his other reaching over to brush back the hair sticking to Liam’s damp forehead, feeling the heat of the fever radiating off his skin.

“What the hell happened?” he asked, his voice a mix of confusion and distress and he looked like he could scarcely believe that it was his son lying injured in the center of the ER right before his eyes.

“I’ll tell you,” said Melissa, reaching over to grasp his shoulder, “I will. But right now we need to stabilize him first and get him to the OR.”

Dr. Geyer couldn’t do anything but nod; swallowing the fear that was threatening to consume him at the sight of his son looking so pale and lifeless.

They worked tirelessly as a team, Melissa acting as support for both the doctor and Liam, doing everything she could do to assist the doctors and to supply her two-cents where it was needed.

They were waiting on the x-ray when one of Liam’s lungs collapsed and he had to be intubated. Dr. Geyer refused to let anyone else do it, even though his own hands were shaking and tears were almost clouding his vision as he worked. But he managed it successfully before stepping aside for one of the other doctors to come in and taking over breathing for Liam, allowing himself a moment to just run his fingers through Liam’s hair, looking down at his still figure with his eyes glistening and the look of absolute heartbreak clear on his face.

Melissa didn’t know how long they worked before Liam’s blood pressure was stabilized and his condition was finally safe to be taken to the OR, and she barely had enough time to take a breath before she felt a strong hand grasping her upper arm, pulling her towards the empty adjoining room; it was far enough away from everyone else to secure their privacy but near enough that they could still keep an eye on Liam.

“ _Melissa_ ,” Dr. Geyer said, his voice dripping of desperation and obvious confusion when he said her name. “You have to explain to me – this… all this… this – what _happened_? You told me he was at your house. You told me he was safe – you _promised_ me, Melissa, you promised me that nothing was going to happen to him.” His voice was raised and his tone was almost angry, but it was almost completely coated in fear that Melissa didn’t even know where to begin. “That’s my son in there. My _son_! How could this have happened? Just – _how_? Who could do something like this? He’s only seventeen years old!”

“Todd,” she started, though she didn’t even know where to begin. “I… I promise that I will explain everything in detail. I will. But now I just… I just need you to listen to me, okay? We don’t have much time and I just need you to know what you _need_ to know – once Liam is okay, I promise I’ll sit you down and I will tell you absolutely everything, so… you just need to listen to me, okay? You need to keep your mind open, and just… try to pause everything you thought you knew about reality. I’ve been where you are now and I promise you, it’ll get better.”

Dr. Geyer swallowed nervously, though he nodded.

“The assault a few months ago on the hospital and on the school; the one they were blaming on terrorism… it wasn’t terrorism, at least not the kind they wanted us to believe, it was an assault, led by a man named Gerard and a woman named Monroe, _school guidance counselor_ Monroe,” she said, staring straight at the doctor. “It was an attack on the supernatural creatures in Beacon Hills,” she said, pausing for a moment to let the words sink in.

Dr. Geyer looked like he was having a hard time actually digesting the word. “The supernatural? You don’t mean—”

Melissa nodded gravely. “I _do_ mean,” she said, “Werewolves… hellhounds… banshee’s – all of them, they’re all real and they all exist right here in Beacon Hills.”

“I… I don’t understand – have you lost your mind, Melissa? This is – this all – this is just… madness! You can’t expect me to believ – why are you even telling me this now?”

Melissa took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to have to be the one to tell you this, but I don’t have a choice. I’m sorry,” she started, “I’m telling you this because… because Liam… Liam is a werewolf, and so is Scott,” she said. “So is Malia and Hayden.”

“You’re mad,” he said, taking a step back, running his hands across his head. “You can’t think – you’ve – you’ve lost your mind, Melissa! I’m not going to stand here and listen to this bullshit fantasy story for one more second—”

This time it was Melissa who latched onto his arm in a tight grip, pushing him hard against the wall and pinning him there with her hands on the scruff of his shirt. “It’s true, Todd, whether you want to believe me or not. Monroe was the one who kidnapped Liam, she hurt him, she did something to him that repressed his ability to shift, that’s why he isn’t healing, that’s why he’s still seriously injured. I don’t know what she did and I don’t know if it’s permanent, but we can only hope that it’s not because once it wears off he’ll heal on his own.”

“You say heal… you can’t possibly mean…”

“Yes, I mean he’ll heal completely from this. But right now his body can’t and that’s where we come in. We need to treat him and treat the stab wound and just keep him alive so that his body can get rid of the poison and do it for him. Can you do that, Todd? I’m sorry having to burden you with all this is such a terrible way under such terrible circumstances, but there’s no other way. I found out about werewolves and about this world when I saw _my_ son get gut shot at point blank range. He not only survived, he was completely healed by the next day. So please, just trust me… if not, trust Liam, have faith in him, he’s your son.”

Dr. Geyer released a shuddering breath but he didn’t seem like he was about to run screaming out the front door. “Okay,” he said, blinking back the dampness accumulating in his eyes, “I’ll trust you _this_ time, Melissa. Don’t make be regret it because the last time I said I trusted you… it ended with my son in the ER with a stab wound to the gut,” he said, prying Melissa’s hands off his coat, straightening up and walking back into the adjoining ER without a glance back; leaving Melissa standing there in the empty room staring at his retreating back.

Melissa could only sigh. In hindsight, it probably turned out better than she thought; at least he wasn’t calling the cops on her, or worse, Eichen House.

The moment she stepped back into the hustle and bustle of the ER, doctors and nurses still working hard to stabilize Liam, one of the doctors standing next to Dr. Geyer who had his back to her, beckoned her to where they were standing near x-ray film viewer where there was already a film put up against the light. “You need to see this,” he said when Melissa approached. Dr. Geyer didn’t even react to her presence at his side but Melissa didn’t take any offense.

“What is that?” she asked before she could take a good look at what the young doctor was showing her.

“His chest ultrasound was picking up something strange,” he explained, more to Dr. Geyer than Melissa because he’d said the same to her earlier, “So we ordered a chest x-ray and – am I crazy or does that look like a bullet in his lung?”

Dr. Geyer and Melissa both leaned in to see the little bright speck on the black backdrop of the film. Melissa heard rather than saw when Dr. Geyer let out a shuddering breath when the other doctor’s suspicion turned out to be true.

“What do you mean _came up_? Isn’t there an entry wound?” Dr. Geyer asked, looking between the x-ray and back to where Liam way lying motionless on the gurney behind him.

“That’s just is… there isn’t one,” said the younger doctor. “There’s the stab wound in his side, but there isn’t any bullet wounds or anything remotely resembling one as far as I can see.”

Dr. Geyer didn’t wait for him to finish before he spun on his heels and marched over to where Liam was. One hand reaching out to stroke Liam’s hair back and the other running across his pale, unblemished chest – looking over to the x-ray to recheck the exact position of the bullet in his lung but not finding any evidence that it had actually pierced his body. He finally looked up when Melissa approached, his expression grim and his eyes still damp; there was an expression in his gaze that she couldn’t place but she understood the confusion that was radiating off him in that moment.

“It must have healed before she did whatever it is she did to him,” she said.

“My son has a bullet in his chest,” Dr. Geyer said, but it wasn’t really directed at Melissa or at anyone in particular. It was muttered almost to himself like a mantra. “There’s a bullet in his chest,” he repeated, this time he turned his teary gaze up to lock onto Melissa’s.

Melissa was sympathetic. “We need to get him to the operating room,” she said without breaking eye contact. “We’re going to get the bullet out and we’re going to fix him,” she added, taking her time to say each word almost like an assurance to the doctor - to Liam’s _father_. “He’s going to be okay. _He is_.”

The look on Dr. Geyer’s face was nothing short of heartbreaking as he nodded along, his movement almost robotic like he needed to latch onto Melissa’s words and hold onto it because the only other option was to crumble to the ground.

“Todd,” said Melissa again, her voice stern but not unsympathetic, reaching out to place her hand on his shoulder. “Your son is going to be fine, we’ll both make sure of it, okay?”

His breath hitched but he nodded and Melissa could only watch as he turned his eyes from her to look at Liam’s unconscious face, reaching over to stroke the side of his face gently before he leaned down and planted a kiss on his forehead.

He didn’t let go of Liam’s hand even once as they wheeled him up to the operating room a few minutes later. Melissa didn’t go up with them; instead she decided to go check on Scott and the others and to let them know what was happening. Liam’s injuries were beyond her expertise and she’d go in as a support for Dr. Geyer once she made sure Scott was okay.

She found the pack in the waiting room instead of the one of the hospital rooms as she’d implicitly instructed, but all of them looked too down and too dejected for her to be even remotely annoyed by it. All eyes were immediately on her the moment she stepped in through the door and Scott and Theo leading the pack as they all convened on her, talking over each other all at once but Melissa didn’t have to understand what they were saying to know what they were asking.

“We just took him up to the operating room,” she said, half yelling to be heard over the ruckus and immediately the noise died down as everyone listened intently to what she had to say. “He’s hurt pretty bad and the stab wound in his abdomen was starting to get infected. Also…” she said, trailing off, staring out at the desperation she could see on the faces of the kids looking up at her, focusing on Scott and Theo at the end. Scott, because she could see how much the feeling of responsibility was killing him on the inside, and Theo because she could tell Scott’s guilt was nowhere near what Theo felt for what happened to Liam, “You said that Monroe shot him when she took him?”

It was Mason who nodded. “There was blood at the scene and Scott and Theo both said they smelled gunpowder residue. Why?”

Melissa exhaled once, reaching up to smooth out the hair that had flown free from the messy bun she’d hurriedly put it into. “Whatever that woman did to him – what she did to suppress his werewolf DNA, she did it after he was shot.”

“That’s a good thing though… right?” asked Malia.

“That wound healed,” she said, “But… but the bullet was still inside his chest when it did.”

There were shocked gasps and mutters of ‘Oh my god’ going around. Scott took a couple of steps back and sat back down on the seat, burying his face in the crook of his arms – his hands were covered in some kind of salve that she’d asked one of the nurses to treat him with. She saw Mason collapsing into Corey’s arms, sobbing lightly into his embrace and looked around to find Theo, spotting him sitting down slumped over on the floor with his back to the wall, leaning his forehead on an arm resting on his knee, the very picture of misery. All three of them were.

“His dad is with him and we have the best surgeons operating on him. We can only hope that whatever Monroe did, that it’ll wear off soon and his body will start healing itself the way it should be.”

Everyone retreated to their own section of the waiting room, Corey still holding Mason in his embrace, whispering words into his ear that Mason would hesitantly nod to every once in a while. Theo in the far corner of the room away from everyone, wallowing in his own guilt. Isaac was standing apart, his arms crossed over his chest leaning against the wall a few seats away from Scott. Lydia and Stiles were sitting by Scott’s side, Stiles with a hand rubbing circles on Scott’s back in a comforting way. Eventually Melissa’s eyes found Malia who was staring sadly at Scott though she made no move to approach him.

When Malia, sensing someone’s eyes on her eventually found Melissa’s gaze, she nodded towards Theo sitting dejectedly in the corner with a nod of her head and made a move to approach Scott. She watched as Malia reluctantly walked over to where Theo was sitting hunched over against the wall and took seat next to him, not touching but within reach. She didn’t say a word and Theo didn’t make a move to look at her when she sat down, but the way he stilled suddenly made it clear that he noticed her presence there. Melissa thought that was the best solution she could think of for the moment. Malia clearly didn’t know how to deal with Scott being so down and Theo needed someone as a support, but hell would probably freeze over first before he’d ever ask it of anyone, and perhaps it would give Malia a chance to get whatever conflict and pent up feelings she had about Theo out in the open.

“Scott?” she called out as she took seat on Scott’s left, but her son didn’t even move to acknowledge her presence. “Liam’s going to be alright,” she said immediately, reaching over to run her fingers through his hair. “He’s young and he’s strong and he’s _your_ beta.”

She could hear him scoff. “Him being my beta is the reason he’s here. The reason this happened to him,” said Scott when he straightened up slightly, lifting his head up out of his arms. “He’s hurt because of me. He suffered so terribly because of me. It’s all my fault.”

“It’s not your fault – hey, are you listening to me? _It’s not_. It’s Monroe’s fault,” she said, reaching over to cup her hand on the side of his jaw and lifting his face up to look at her. “You hear me, Scott? It isn’t your fault, or Theo’s or anyone’s besides Monroe.”

She could see the tears pooling in the corner of his eyes glistening under the light before it trickled down the side of his face, splashing onto her hand. “I’m sorry, mom,” he said, and the hopelessness in his tone broke Melissa’s heart.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Scott. Liam will be alright, he’ll heal and he’ll recover and he’ll tell you the exact same thing I did. You and Theo both,” she said. “I don’t know the whole story yet, only bits and pieces from what Chris told me, but he’s alive because of you and because of Theo. He’s here and he has a shot because of you two and that’s the most important thing. You hear me?”

Scott nodded reluctantly but Melissa thought that was the best she could have asked for in that moment.

She patted Scott on the shoulder, sparing a look at the uncharacteristically silent Stiles on the other side and stood up; making her way to where Theo was still sitting almost curled into himself away from everyone else.

“It’s okay, Malia,” she said, “Go and comfort Scott for a while.”

Malia looked between her and Theo for a beat before hesitantly reaching out and patting Theo awkwardly on the shoulder, as if she wasn’t sure whether it was the right thing but it was the only mode of comfort she could think of. “Liam will be fine,” she said before pushing herself up off the ground. “Don’t beat yourself up too much, we all mess up sometimes.”

Melissa crouched down, feeling the joints in her knees popping in protest at the movement, but she managed to get herself onto the ground, reaching across Theo’s back and circling an arm around his shoulders.

She didn’t know why, but in the short time she’d gotten to know Theo, she’d developed something of a protective predisposition when it came to him. But really wasn’t out of the ordinary for her. She’d come to accept her role of pack mom gladly and the fact that her house had turned into something of a halfway home for lost teenagers. First it was Isaac and then it was Theo and they were undoubtedly not going to be the last.

“Hey, kiddo,” she said, trying to sound more chipper and upbeat than she truly felt on the inside. She was just as worried as all of them deep down but she knew she had to keep up a strong front for the kids.

Theo didn’t react. “I’m sorry,” he said after a moment. Melissa almost had to lean in to listen because he’d said it so softly.

“You don’t have to be sorry to me,” she said. “You saved my life, remember? _And_ you saved Liam. As I told Scott, Liam being taken wasn’t his fault and it definitely wasn’t yours.”

“I shouldn’t have left him alone,” he said, though he kept his gaze down. “I should have listened to my gut – I should have gone back to check up on him the moment it happened.”

“If you had gone back, who’s to say that she wouldn’t have gotten you as well? Hmm? And if you had gotten caught with Liam, we wouldn’t have known where to look for him. We wouldn’t have been able to save him. Chris told me a bit of what happened – I’m still waiting on the full story, mind you – but from his account and I know Scott will agree: you saved Liam, and you saved Scott. You saved them all. That was _you_ , Theo. Just like you saved Liam back at the hospital, just like you saved Gabe from dying an agonizing death.” Theo stilled at the comment so Melissa knew that he was at least listening to what she was saying. “You did that, not because you stood to gain anything, not because you owed any of them anything. You did it because you’re a good person.”

“I killed Scott,” he said, suddenly turning his gaze up to look at her. Melissa could see the dampness of his eyes and the glistening tears pooling in them. “I killed people with my own two hands – I caused other’s suffering and death.”

“We’re – none of us are perfect,” said Melissa, running her hand up and down the length of his arm, “And yes you did some bad things – you did some _terrible_ things, but sometimes the only way you can make up for it is just to seek forgiveness from the people you hurt and just to be a better person, and believe me, Theo, you’re doing a good job on both counts already. The only thing left is just to forgive yourself.”

Theo stayed silent for a moment, looking away to stare at the floor before his gaze returned to Melissa. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“Like I said, you have nothing to be sorry –”

“I’m sorry I hurt you when I hurt Scott. I’m sorry that I caused you pain,” he said, cutting her off.

That surprised Melissa for a moment before she managed to gather herself, sparring him a warm smile and reaching over with her free arm to pull him into an embrace, letting his bury his face in the crook of her neck. “I forgive you,” she whispered into his ear and he could feel his entire body still in her embrace. “Okay? I _forgive_ you,” she repeated, grasping him on the arms and holding him at arm’s length as she looked sternly into his eyes. “But I have three conditions. Number one: consider this a moment of learning and growing, and bettering yourself. Do good, if you want good things to happen to you. That’s what I always told Scott. No matter what everyone else around you is doing, no matter what they’re saying, take their opinions into consideration but always do what your own heart tells you to do. I know deep down that _you_ know what you did was bad. I have faith in that, Theo, because I know you’re a good person. Trust me, I’m a mother.

“Number two: my forgiveness is mine to give, but from everyone else, it’s something you’re going to have to earn from them; but trust me, I can tell that they have at least moved on, if not forgiven you the same way,” she said with a smile. Her hand reaching up to cup Theo’s face in her palm; his eyes were unblinking staring back at her but he was listening intently to ever word coming out of her mouth. “And thirdly, the most important one,” she said, leaning in a fraction closer to drive her point home, “I want you to forgive yourself, alright? That last condition is absolutely not up for debate.”

That managed to draw out a small, teary smile from Theo, though his expression was still one of complete disbelief. “Melissa, I –”

“What did I say?”

He immediately snapped his mouth shut, before the smile slowly reemerged. “Okay.”

“I’m holding you to that promise, okay?” she asked, her expression softening.

Theo just nodded. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she said. “What you did for the Dread Doctors is all in the past. What you do for the pack from here on out; that’s the only thing that matters, besides, I know that you have something more than the pack riding on what you do – or rather, _someone_ ,” she said with a wink.

Theo looked startled by her words. “You-You know?”

That made Melissa smile; the utter innocence of his statement. “I do. I’ve known for a little while now.”

“Does… Does anyone else – does Scott know?”

Melissa laughed at that. “Bless that boy, I love him to bits, but he’s the single most oblivious person in the world when it comes to some things, one of them being _this_ thing. I don’t know about the others though.” Theo exhaled and ran a nervous hand through his hair. Melissa patted him gently on the cheek. “But it’s okay, as long as you’re both happy,” she said, “As long as you both make each other happy.”

Patting him one last time on the shoulder, she pushed herself to her feet, feeling her joints protesting vehemently against the movement. She eventually got herself upright but not before letting out the single most embarrassing, painful groan that ever came out of a human being’s mouth.

“Are you okay?” asked Theo when she was finally in a standing position.

“Yeah,” she groaned. “Once you get to a certain age, your body and sitting on floors don’t become very good friends unfortunately. It’s one of the downsides of aging,” she told him. “Enjoy your youth while you still have it,” she said, which brought out a reluctant chuckle from Theo.

She then left, sparing one last look at the ensemble group sitting around the waiting room. She’d taken care of one problem, and now it was time to deal with the most pressing issue, saving Liam and preventing Dr. Geyer from crumbling into a million pieces.

Scott watched his mom leave the room and kept his eyes on the door as it flapped a couple more times before it came to a complete stop.

Stiles was beside him; he didn’t have to look to feel his presence there and the warm comforting hand on his shoulder.

“You okay, Scotty?”

Was he?

He looked at his hand, charred and burned and blackened and he thought they really should hurt more than they did. Mostly it was just a dull throbbing sort of pain, not even as intense or as painful as the guilt he felt on the inside over what happened to Liam.

Liam was his responsibility, and he’d let him get hurt. Liam was his beta and he allowed Monroe to get her filthy hands on him and hurt him so badly. He let Liam go through so much pain and he was powerless to do anything, just like he was powerless to save Allison, just like he was too weak to save Stiles. Every bad thing that ever happened to any member of his pack happened because of him and he didn’t know how he could live with that knowledge in his head. Especially now, because Liam was in the operating room fighting for his life – again, and he could do nothing but sit back pathetically and cry.

“Yeah,” he said simply even though he wasn’t even remotely in the vicinity of alright.

“What about your hands? Are they –”

“They’re fine,” he said, his tone clipped. He felt bad for being so dismissive to Stiles, but he knew Stiles would understand.

“Alright then,” said Stiles, though his tone indicated that he didn’t believe a word he was saying.

Scott didn’t look up once, not even when he felt Stiles getting to his feet and walking away and Lydia sliding into the seat beside him; her hands massaging the taut muscles in his shoulders. He looked at his hands again. They hadn’t healed. They weren’t healing. They were still charred and burned and blistered and Scott felt pain just looking at it, but not actual physical pain, just the thought that he should feel the pain but instead his whole body was numb, especially in his chest.

His hands should be burning with agony, his mind told him, and all of a sudden they were. Pain, scorching agony that caused his hands to shake and his eyes to clench shut. The salve didn’t help at all and deep down Scott was glad his mom had left and no one was looking closely enough at him to see his pain. He bit his lip not to cry out.

It was what his mom had told him about adrenalin. It had kept the pain away for when he needed to be on his feet, but now that he was sitting down, his pack was safe and Liam was in the hands of the person he trusted most in the world, he felt like the adrenalin he’d been working on had finally run out.

The pain was excruciating. He couldn’t concentrate on anything else besides trying not to cry out. His eyes shut tight and his teeth gritted; in that moment, Scott didn’t feel like a powerful alpha, he felt like his weak, powerless seven year old self hiding under his bed and trying to block out the sounds of his parents shouting at each other in the living room.

All of a sudden, the pain left him; flowing out like a stream until the burning agony once again became the dull throbbing that he’d been feeling ever since the plant.

His opened his eyes, the pooling tears making the floor seem like a muddled painting but he forced himself to look up and found the warm eyes and the familiar scraggly beard and Derek’s wise, knowing face looking down at him. Only then did he notice the strong hand on his arm, siphoning the pain from his body.

“Better?” Derek asked.

Scott could only nod.

Derek nodded back approvingly before sitting down on the seat Lydia had vacated for him.

“What happened?” Scott asked, wiping his face on the sleeve of his shirt before looked back at Derek who had crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back to rest against the back of the chair. His hair was tousled and he looked slightly disheveled, his clothes speckled with blood and grime and sweat and he really smelled not much better than he looked.

“I’m honestly getting too old for this,” he sighed, his tone tired and his shoulders slightly sagged, his eyes closed in concentration.

“You’re not old,” said Scott with a small chuckle.

“Sometimes it feels like I am,” he said before opening his eyes and turning to look at Scott. “You should have called me, Scott, instead of going in there half blind and without back up. Hell, you should have called Peter – _someone_ at least.”

“The phones weren’t working and we didn’t have time to wait around to figure out an alternative plan. They had Liam, Derek, what was I supposed to do? Besides Theo knew the layout of the place and at the very least, it was a start.”

“But still, it was reckless. You could have gotten yourself or any one of your pack injured, or killed. You _are_ injured in fact – what the hell happened? Argent told me bits and pieces of it, which is everything he knew, but he wasn’t there for all of it.”

Scott sighed. “You know about what she did? What she created?” – Derek nodded – “I don’t know everything either, it was Argent that told us about the ‘cure’ she made. She used it on Liam after she shot him and kidnapped him, and back at the plant, before we managed to break through the barrier to save him, she stabbed him in the side, and that wound didn’t heal. Malia, Isaac and I were infected by an airborne version, but we don’t know how much Liam had been dosed with before we managed to get to him. I… I think she had it in a liquid form that was in an IV connected to him for god knows how long.”

Derek cursed under his breath, though his expression quickly turned thoughtful when he stared back at him. “How did you break through the barrier anyway? It was the same as the bars at the entrance right, electrified and lined with mountain ash?”

Scott was silent for a moment. He shrugged casually as he glanced away. “I had to get to Liam,” he said as an explanation, but Derek seemed to understand. “What happened after? With the remaining mercenaries and… and whatever it was Monroe had created there?”

“Well…” Derek started, taking a deep breath, “The sheriffs arrived just after you guys pulled out and managed to pick up a handful of the escaping stragglers that almost got away; apparently your coach and the kid – what’s his name –”

“Nolan?”

“Yeah, Nolan. Apparently they managed call the sheriff station to report what was going on. I don’t know how much of their loyalty Monroe actually believed, either all of it, or not at all, but somehow they managed to take out the two guys who were stationed with them after Monroe left and made the call after disabling whatever it was Monroe was using to block the phone lines in the city. If there were two people I would have considered the least likely to come out the hero of the day, those two would definitely have been at the very top of that list, but I guess your trust in them wasn’t unfounded,” he said and Scott couldn’t stop the small, proud smile that curled at his lips.

“What about the other werewolves? The ones who came with you?” he asked, “Who were they? I didn’t know there were any other packs left in Beacon Hills.”

“There aren’t,” explained Derek, “But somehow you managed to find yourself in the good graces of the few alphas left – like the Primal Pack’s alpha,” he said.

It took Scott a few moments to register his words. “Mrs. Finch?” he asked, surprised and almost in awe.

Derek just nodded. “Her,” he said, “Along with Satomi and whatever was left of her pack.”

That name gave Scott immediate pause. “Satomi? I thought she was dead and the rest of her pack wiped out?”

“Yeah… well – you don’t live to be the oldest werewolf alive without having a trick or two up your sleeve,” he said simply. “And especially because it was for the sake of destroying this evil once and for all. Knowing Satomi, she would have dragged herself out of the grave to do that anyway,” added Derek.

“Where are they now?”

“The Primal Pack’s alpha – you called her Mrs. Finch? – she left right after everything settled. She just said that she didn’t like owing people anything,” – that made Scott smile a little – “As for Satomi and her pack; a few of them are stationed around the perimeter of the hospital as a precaution, and the rest are still back at the plant. Apparently they found something of interest back there, I don’t know exactly what, but I heard it was a couple of members of their pack who Monroe had been keeping prisoner for their DNA. I still don’t know the full details, but apparently after many trials and errors, her success came from using DNA of born werewolves. That’s probably why it didn’t work on the chimeras, because their DNA is as far removed from equation as can be.”

“What about Nolan and coach?” asked Scott.

“They’re both fine, surprisingly so; perhaps even better than fine because I could sense Sheriff Stilinski’s rising stress from all the way across the courtyard as he was escorting them out. They caught a ride with him and the sheriffs. The official statement is that there is no official statement, but the sheriff still wanted a play by play account of what happened; and for the record Scott, I should warn you and Stiles both that Stilinski is even more pissed than I am. So… better prepare yourselves.”

Scott couldn’t explain, but he was looking forward to it. It was a sign that things finally had settled down and that the only thing he had to dread was getting chewed out by the sheriff. “Thanks for the warning.”

“Yeah,” said Derek simply, glancing around the room with a critical eye. “One other thing… _she_ – uh… told me not to tell you she was there because she couldn’t stay, but she couldn’t just stay away because you were in trouble.”

Scott couldn’t keep the confusion off his face. “Who?”

Derek looked like he was deliberating his words carefully. “I promised I wouldn’t say anything, but… she shorted out the generator at the plant and allowed the rest of the werewolves to enter the compound.”

Scott smiled to himself when the realization dawned on him and he said the name to himself almost like an exhale; “Kira.”

“She just said that she’s working hard on getting her powers under control and that when she does, she’ll come back to you.”

Scott just nodded, looking away, a wistful smile on his face at the thought.

“So… what about…?” asked Derek after a while motioning towards Theo with a nudge of his head; directing Scotts attention towards the chimera still sitting morosely in the corner.

“Theo?” said Scott, like the thought of him had slipped his mind until that moment which it really shouldn’t have. Theo really pulled through for them that day, more than what was expected and more than any of them could have even asked for, especially Scott. “He saved us,” he said, “I don’t think we would have gotten in or out of there in one piece if it wasn’t for him. We probably wouldn’t even have been able to get to Liam on time if not for his history with the Dread Doctors.”

Derek looked thoughtful. “You know, when I first heard about you allowing him into your pack – I swear Stiles couldn’t shut up about it. I honestly don’t even know how he got my number but I have decided to go back off the grid since, just so you know – I thought you were crazy. I mean, I know you and the decision really didn’t surprise at all, but still I thought it was reckless – as reckless as walking into a trap unprepared and without back up, by the way, just wanted to mention that again.”

“You know, I take back what I said – you really have gotten old, Derek. I swear your hovering right now is worse than my mom’s.”

“Good,” said Derek simply, “Maybe you might even listen for once.”

“I just needed to save Liam. Honestly, that was all I was thinking about; we had a plan – it wasn’t perfect, but it was something, and I had Isaac and Theo and my pack supporting me. And the truth is, I didn’t expect it, I wasn’t even thinking about it really, but deep down, I had a feeling that I had you behind me as well – that for some reason, I knew you’d come, because you’re always there when I need you,” said Scott.

“It’s going to take more than a little flattery to weasel your way back into my good graces, Scott,” said Derek, but he was smiling.

“Noted,” said Scott, sparing him a small smile of his own. He exhaled once through his nose before turning back to look at Theo. “I think I should…” he motioned with a nod.

“Yeah, the guy looks really beat down for being the only person who wasn’t physically affected,” said Derek. “Then go get your hands properly treated. I don’t know what Monroe put in that thing and I’m ninety-nine percent sure that it’s not permanent, but who’s to say _when_ it will actually even wear off.”

Scott just nodded before standing up. He passed by Braeden who was standing apart from him and Derek, giving them the privacy to speak as he walked towards where Theo was sitting, mouthing a thank you to her that was acknowledged with an accepting nod as he passed.

“Can I sit?” he asked first thing the moment he stepped up. Theo didn’t seem to notice his presence until he spoke because he looked mildly startled as his eyes shot up to look at him standing over him.

His answer was a small almost unnoticeable nod.

Scott carefully lowered himself to the ground, wary of using his hands to support his descent. He vowed to never take simple things, like the ability to hold and touch, for granted ever again. “How are you?” he asked the moment he was settled and watched as Theo’s mind scrambled for an answer. He already knew what it was going to be.

“I’m fine,” said Theo.

“Well if you’re fine, then I’m fine too,” he said in response, finally getting Theo to look back at him and meet his eyes. “But we both know that’s a lie. Liam’s hurt, and it’s on us and deep down it pisses us off that everyone else refuses to acknowledge that fact.”

Theo was silent, but he seemed intrigued by what Scott was saying.

“I know… I know we haven’t really had the time to sit down and talk about… well, about everything since this whole mess started. And I guess, as the alpha, I really should have made the effort, but the truth is, I really didn’t want to.”

“I understand,” said Theo.

“I don’t mean it like that,” Scott explained quickly, “I just mean that… I guess Stiles is right when he says that I’m too trusting, or that I trust too easily. But he’s also wrong in that sometimes it’s worth putting your trust in people; sometimes trust is all you have and you’ve proven it enough to last a lifetime over the last couple of days. What I mean to say is that, I didn’t want to trust you in the beginning, I had no reason to, but you showed me – you showed _us_ , that you _are_ trustworthy and you _are_ loyal and you _are_ a member of this pack. I just wanted you to know that. I wanted you to _hear_ that from me.”

If the shuddering breath Theo let out was any indication, Scotts words were not what he expected to hear, but it definitely was something he _needed_ to hear. “I… I… I don’t know what to say,” he admitted finally.

“Then you don’t have to say anything… just… just – what you said back there, to Liam,” he said, and the recognition came quickly to Theo’s expression and he looked like he was struggling hard not to turn his eyes away. “Did you mean that? I mean… is that really how you feel?”

Theo seemed to give his answer a lot of thought and Scott didn’t push him, before a look came over his face; a steely sort of determination as he levelled Scott with a stare. “It is,” he said simply.

Scott just stared back. He didn’t smile; he didn’t look angry or happy. His expression was just one of clear interest, like he was trying to rearrange his thoughts before saying out loud what he was thinking. “It’s what you both want?”

“Yes… on my part at least,” said Theo truthfully. “I don’t want to speak on Liam’s behalf but…” he trailed off, pausing for a beat, before suddenly turning back to level a look on Scott. “ _Yes_ ,” he said, determined, “It’s what we both want.”

Scott sighed, but there was a small wisp of a smile tugging at his lips when he glanced away. “You know… I’m not really good at this kind of stuff – all the relationships I’ve been in just kind of fell into my lap; they’ve all been girls _way_ out of my league and I still don’t know to this day what I did to deserve any of them,” admitted Scott, he could see the curiosity in Theo’s face. “Honestly, I’m pretty sure I’m the last one to know about this – my mom’s the first one to argue that I can be the most oblivious person on earth, but I did realize that something had changed between you two – or rather, something in Liam had changed. I saw that in his eyes when he was fighting on your behalf against me and Malia when we wanted to send you back. But I never would have guessed then that it would actually come to this point.”

“Are you angry?” asked Theo, prompting Scott to turn to look at him, but Theo kept his eyes averted, almost as if he was afraid of what Scott’s answer was going to be.

“No,” said Scott immediately and easily, “It’s not my place anyway. Liam’s my beta, not my child – and even if he was, it’s not may place to tell him who he can and can’t love.” He said and the other boy finally turned to look at him.

“Do you really think…” Theo started to say but stopped immediately like he regretted even opening his mouth.

“What?” ask Scott, encouraging him to continue.

Theo was silent for a moment; obviously the wheels of his brain was weighing in the pros and cons of asking whatever it was he intended to ask.

“Do you think… that it is _that_?” he asked, “Love?”

Scott thought about his answer. It really wasn’t his place to say anything because he really didn’t know. All he knew was what he’d seen and the change he saw in Liam ever since Theo came back into his life – into their lives. “Yes,” he said simply.

In that moment, he could almost see the relief in the way Theo’s shoulder sagged, as if his muscles had been taut with apprehension over the subject. He didn’t know the details; he didn’t know what had happened between them behind closed doors, but it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was the way Theo made Liam feel and the way Liam chased Theo’s nightmares away in return.

Scott really didn’t have a grasp on how oblivious he’d really been until that moment, because he only realized how obvious the thing between Liam and Theo had really been. He could look back at any point when Liam and Theo were in the room together and see that there was definitely something there; he hadn’t been able to see it then because he didn’t know what to look for, but now that he did, he couldn’t help but see how clear it had been and he was the person sitting in the dark room with his sunglasses on.

They didn’t say anything else after that. Theo just sagged back against the wall, the only difference this time was that he didn’t seem like he had the entire weight of the world on his shoulders. Scott allowed himself the same kind of relief, leaning back to rest his back against the wall, resting his elbows on his knees. They just sat in silence the two of them; only their eyes watching the coming and goings of the occupants of the room; Malia, Stiles and Lydia sitting in one corner; Braeden and Derek sitting together a few seats down from them. Mason, Corey and Isaac standing by the wall opposite the one Theo and Scott were leaning against.

Minutes passed, and then hours.

No one really counted how long they spent in the waiting room waiting on precious word as to Liam’s condition.

Scott tried not to focus on how worried he was. He knew being stressed always affected his healing, even without taking Monroe’s poison into the equation and he knew that he needed to heal to be of any use to Liam and the rest of his pack, but he just couldn’t get his mind to stop straying.

“How’re your hands?” came Theo’s soft query.

“The same,” he said with a sigh. “Whatever Monroe did… whatever she dosed us with… she really had it out for me – for all of us. I don’t understand how someone could be driven to that point – to do something that terrible.”

“I do,” said Theo, almost as if the words came out before he could even really think about what he was saying.

It gave Scott pause as he glanced over at Theo only to find his eyes already on him. “You’re not like her,” he said.

Theo neither agreed not disagreed with Scott’s words. “I could have been,” he said truthfully.

“Well,” said Scott, “I for one am glad you decided to go a different route. And I’m pretty sure Liam is too.”

The comment brought a small but genuine smile out of Theo. “I’m glad too,” he said, and it was probably as close to a heartfelt confession as he was ever going to get out of Theo and Scott was content with accepting it.

Melissa’s reappearance halted all conversation and all activity in the room. It took almost a split second of silence before any of them realized Melissa was standing at the door in her green scrubs, pulling off her facemask and the surgeon’s cap she had keeping her hair neat and in place. The look on her face wasn’t exactly happy, but she didn’t look exceptionally grim either which Scott decided was at least an encouraging sign.

He was in the middle of wondering how he was going to get his butt off the floor when he felt a hand grasping him by the elbow and pulling him into a standing position. Once he was upright, he noticed that it was Theo standing beside him that had helped him up.

“Thanks,” he said with a smile.

Theo responded with a slightly subdued quirk of the lips and a nod before both of them walked over to where Melissa was standing, everything gathered around her waiting on Scott and Theo to join them.

“How is he?”

Melissa sighed at the question, which Scott took as a slightly _less_ than encouraging sign.

“He’s alive,” she said immediately, like it was the most positive news she had for them. “He’s stable right now, but he’s still not out of the woods. We managed to remove the bullet without causing any additional damage – the bullet did plenty of that already. I don’t know if what Monroe dosed him with caused any physical damage that we couldn’t see, but the two main concerns were the bullet and the stab wound and we’ve fixed both up. He had some minor internal bleeding from the stab wound that nicked his kidney and the bullet punctured a lung – we still don’t know how long he was suffering through it before you guys found him. His lung collapsed before we could get him up to the operating room so we were forced to intubate. We’re keeping him sedated and on the ventilator for at least the next twenty-four hours to make sure his condition doesn’t worsen. He’s currently in the ICU. His father’s with him.”

Melissa’s explanation was monotone, almost robotic. Like she’d reverted into her nurse tone to speak to them because that was the only way she knew how to explain something so dire.

No one knew what to say or how to react once she finished.

Scott glanced over at Theo to see his face downcast and his bangs hanging low covering his eyes; his expression was blank but his hands were grasped in a tight fist by his side. He honestly could relate.

“Can we see him?” he asked.

Melissa sighed. “It’s not hospital policy,” she said, “But I think we passed the point of caring about that years ago. At this point, the only thing I can say is – only if Dr. Geyer says it’s okay.”

Scott nodded. “Okay.”

“Does he know already? About the werewolf stuff?” asked Stiles.

Melissa nodded gravely. “I had to tell him when Liam was in the ER. He took it… well… I guess he could have taken it worse.”

“Which isn’t exactly encouraging,” said Stiles.

“But I think it’s a good idea for Scott to come with me,” said Melissa. “Scott and Theo,” she amended. Her eyes fell on Mason’s teary ones looking back at her and she added, “And Mason too.”

Theo’s head shot up at that and his expression was as confused as taken aback. “Me? Why?”

Scott spared him a smile. “Because Liam would want you there.”

“Scott’s right,” said Melissa, reaching over to circle her arm around Theo’s elbow and pulling him along as she made her way out the door.

“The rest of you,” said Scott, turning around to address the rest of the pack, “Why don’t you go home and get some rest; at least for a couple of hours. My mom said Liam won’t be awake for a while, so it’s no point for all of us to run what’s left of ourselves into the ground,” he said. “You can stay at my house, Isaac. Theo’s stuff is in your old room so you can crash in mine.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yeah… from what Derek told me, Satomi has some of her pack watching the hospital just in case.”

“Plus Braeden and I will be around,” said Derek stepping up. “The rest of you, go home.”

Slowly the pack began dispersing reluctantly, though Mason pulled Scott aside before he could walk out the door. “I think… I think I’ll go home with Corey for a while – I want to be here for Liam, but maybe it’s best if you and his dad had that talk in private… plus Theo – maybe he’d be more comfortable with just you and your mom there.”

Scott nodded. “You’re right.”

“But you call the second anything changes, okay? Promise me.”

“I promise,” said Scott.

Slowly the waiting room emptied out and Scott made his way to follow his mom who was walking with Theo up ahead. Theo’s apprehension was rolling off him like a beacon and Melissa was saying all sorts of things to try and ease his tension.

It wasn’t until they were standing outside the private room in the ICU that Scott stopped dead in his tracks. All of a sudden, he couldn’t take those final few steps that would bring him closer to Liam’s room. He couldn’t bring himself to walk it.

He was afraid; the same kind of fear that ate at him when Allison was dying in his arms, and the same kind of fear that gnawed at him when it was just him and Stiles in that room and Stiles was telling him about the disease that killed his mother; the same disease they thought was going to kill him too. Those were two occasions where the fear was all consuming and Scott didn’t think he’d ever be able to claw his way out. But he managed.

Liam was alive, and he was in that room and Scott needed to pull himself together and be the alpha he was and the alpha everyone needed him to be in that moment. So he put on his mask and he steeled himself and he walked in.

**Tbc.**


	20. The Little Chimera that Could

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay later and beyond overdue *hides under a mountain* but I hope it will make up for the long way. Rest assured that the chapters after this will not be as long a wait *crosses fingers*

****It had been barely more than a day since Theo last heard Liam’s voice and looked into his eyes but it felt like an eternity had passed and he missed it.

He finally had time to just sit down and breathe, but even breathing felt like a chore at that point. He realized then how much people took those kinds of simple acts for granted, especially breathing. Taking in a breath; inhaling oxygen into their lungs and exhaling loudly in rapid sequence. It was just something that came natural to a person and no one really gave it a second thought most of the time, up until the point when they couldn’t do it anymore.

 _Breathe_.

He felt his breath being driven from his lungs every time his sister’s claws skewered him through the chest; he couldn’t inhale oxygen into his body and it felt like torture.

He didn’t want to imagine how Liam felt, how much he suffered during his captivity by Monroe. He didn’t want to think about how much pain he must have been in, how terrified he probably was or how torturous it must have been being tied down, unable to breathe properly though the blood and air that had been pooling in his lungs.

He didn’t want to ponder over those dark things, but they were the only thing he could focus on as he found his mind drifting off; the steady hissing and beeping sound in the background sounding almost soothing even though they were anything but.

But the sound also meant that Liam was alive. It meant that he was still breathing even though he wasn’t doing it without assistance. It meant that Liam was still there with Theo even though his consciousness seemed to be a million miles away.

A machine was breathing for him; that was the only thing Theo could really focus on.

Liam’s eyes were closed, his eyelashes long and thick almost brushing the highest point of his cheekbones. His shoulders were lax and his arms limp by his side. For all intents and purposes, he looked like he was just asleep, except for the presence of the uncomfortable looking tube disappearing down his throat and the rubber lined plastic piece holding the tube in place; its straps circling around the back of his head. There were wires and tubes and IV’s leading to and from every single part of his body that Theo almost had to weave through it all to be able to reach over and grasp Liam’s hand tight in his.

It was just him staring at Liam’s unconscious self in the room. Dr. Geyer had left to talk with Scott and Melissa a few minutes after they first walked into the ICU and he hadn’t seen any of them since.

On one hand, he was grateful for the privacy. On the other hand, being in that room with Liam, the beeping sounds and the hisses of the artificial breathing almost became overwhelming to his senses, and it wasn’t even his wolf part that was affected. It was his human side that couldn’t stand sitting there looking at someone he cared about – someone he _loved_ , being so hurt and not be able to do anything to help him or to ease his pain.

He reached over with his other hand to cover the back of Liam’s that he was holding tight in his grasp; running his thumb back and forth across the soft skin.

He adjusted his seat in the plastic chair by Liam’s beside, leaning in closer to stare at the slack face; willing him to give a sign – anything, that would indicate that he was still there, that he wasn’t lost.

“Liam?” he called out tentatively. But only the hissing and beeping sounds answered him. Liam’s eyes remained closed and he remained unresponsive. Theo hadn’t expected any different considering what Melissa had said, but a small part of his heart was disappointed nonetheless. “I’m sorry, Liam,” he said, bringing their gripped hands up to rest against his cheek. “I’m so sorry.”

Liam didn’t even stir. His chest rose and fell with every pump of the ventilator but his eyelashes didn’t even flutter.

Theo exhaled disappointedly.

It took him a moment before he noticed the eerie sensation of someone’s eyes on him before he turned to glance at the door, finding Dr. Geyer’s unreadable gaze following him with his eyes.

Slowly he lowered Liam’s hand back onto the bed, and leaned back into the seat, putting as much distance between him and Liam as the chair would allow.

Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed the man pushing himself off the door frame he’d been leaning up against and walking over towards the bed, taking a seat on the edge of the mattress by Liam’s thigh before reaching over to take his other limp hand in his.

The doctor didn’t say anything for a while and there was no sign or scent of Scott of Melissa anywhere within their vicinity – a small part of Theo’s spirit that could still somehow find a shred of humour in the situation hoped that he hadn’t killed them both.

“You’re Theo?”

It took him a second to realize that the doctor had spoken and that he’d asked a question that was directed at Theo himself.

He swallowed once before giving a hesitant, acknowledging nod. “Yes, sir.”

Dr. Geyer still didn’t make eye contact; he could barely bring him self to blink because it would be a split second he wasn’t looking at his son’s face. “I just guessed,” he said. “Liam talks about you all the time.”

To say Theo was taken aback by the revelation would have been an understatement. “H-He does?”

The small smile that tugged at the corner of Dr. Geyer’s lips seemed like an encouraging sign that the situation wasn’t about to turn ugly. “Mind you, I don’t think he even realized he was doing it – that’s how he is with things he’s passionate about, for better or for worse. It’s always: _‘Theo did this’_ and ‘ _Theo did that’_ and _‘Theo said this dumb thing’_. It was never a point of conversation between us, but somehow he never failed to bring your name up no matter the subject.”

Theo realized that his mouth was open and he was gaping at the doctor, undoubtedly proving to him that he was indeed the fool he’d heard about in Liam’s stories, but all of a sudden it was like he forgot how to act like a normal human being.

Seeing the doctor reaching over to brush a stray strand off of Liam’s forehead before running his fingers through his hair – his eyes never once looking away from where they were trained on Liam’s face – was a sobering moment and Theo felt himself being grounded in reality once again.

“Are you two… the two of you… are you…” the doctor said suddenly, hesitantly, before trailing off, his half asks hanging in the air but Theo knew exactly what he was asking.

“Not… Not in the way you’re thinking,” he stuttered, “– I mean, it isn’t… like that _that_ , yet. Just…” he trailed off awkwardly. “I… I care about him,” he said after letting out a loud exhale and steeling himself. “And truth is… well… I guess we don’t really know yet. This is all still very new to the both of us,” he said.

Dr. Geyer was silent for a while. Eventually he managed to tear his gaze away from staring at Liam to look at Theo; scrutinizing him with a critical eye.

“I have to be honest with you Theo, this is… this is completely out of left field to me,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not angry or upset, just… I never thought – or I never would have suspected that Liam is… I mean, he’s been friends with Mason since they were kids, and we’ve always know about Mason. But with Liam… I guess what I’m trying to say is that – I honestly didn’t know that he liked boys.”

It was weird hearing the words being said out loud. He and Liam both knew what they were getting into, at least they knew as much as two people who really didn’t know much about the thing they were getting into. But there was that mutual sense of at the very least they were both equally as new and equally as green to the whole thing.

“It’s not like that,” he found himself saying, “What I mean is, I don’t know about Liam; I knew he was with Hayden and I know that he genuinely likes girls, but with me, I never really liked or not liked – well, _guys_ , I guess. But _this_ … it’s not about guys or girls. This is just… this is me liking Liam as more than a friend, and Liam feeling the same way in return.”

It was honestly more words than he’d ever spoken to Liam’s dad, and it was a more intimate subject than he was comfortable discussing with another human being, but getting it off his chest and with the person who’s approval would mean absolutely everything; Theo felt lighter in his spirit than he’d felt in a long time.

“But… there is indeed something going on between you two?” he continued and Theo really wanted a hole to open up under his feet and swallow him whole.

Eventually he decided to just bite the bullet. “Yes,” he said simply and truthfully. He didn’t know the extent of everything or where it would even lead, if it would even lead anywhere, but he truly cared about Liam – he truly did love him in a way he never really loved another person before and… well, he did want it lead somewhere and mean something to the both of them.

“I suppose we’ll have to talk about this more once… once Liam is well, but lets just leave it at that for the time being,” Dr. Geyer said and Theo was more than happy to oblige.

“Yes, sir.”

It was another five minutes before the scent of a new presence reached Theo’s nose and the familiar dejected figure appeared at the door.

Theo didn’t think he’d ever seen Scott look so down or so defeated; not even when Theo broke apart his pack and pierced him through the chest with his very claws, so that was saying a lot. His hands were wrapped thick with white gauze which almost made it seem like he was wearing mittens and would probably be a cause of great humour had the situation not been so grim.

“Scott,” Theo said aloud, attracting Dr. Geyer’s attention to Scott standing like the saddest kicked puppy in the universe, almost looked dwarfed in the doorframe. He looked between Scott and the doctor apprehensively, not really knowing where he stood in that situation, suddenly wishing that he could spontaneously utilize Corey’s chameleon powers right at that moment.

Eventually, after a long and heavy silence, Dr. Geyer gave Scott a small nod that made him exhale in obvious relief. Theo wasn’t sure what was going on but the only thing he knew for certain was that there wasn’t going to be a murder that day and he was glad. Immediately he got to his feet and stepped aside, making it clear with just his eyes that his seat was Scott’s if he wanted it.

A small appreciative smile tugged at Scott’s lips as he limped forward. Theo stepped around when Scott passed and went to stand by the far corner wall, looking at Scott and Dr. Geyer siting by Liam’s side and Liam lying unconscious, still completely lost to the world in the bed between them.

It was hands down the most awkward, most uncomfortable situation he’s ever found himself in – and he’d found himself in his fair share – but being there in the room with the guy he loved, his stepdad and the alpha he tried to murder and whose pack he tried to steal, surrounded by a group of people he hated and betrayed more than once and the mother of said guy he killed with his own two hands… well, that probably took the cake in terms of dysfunctional.

However, Liam was safe and on the road to recovery and that was all that really mattered.

Theo could finally breathe again.

\--

Theo wasn’t much of a coffee drinker; he seemed like he would be an avid one but he really wasn’t too fond of the taste. Stiles used to say that he took his coffee black, like his heart, but that really wasn’t the case at all. He much preferred juices if he had to be honest; freshly squeezed, not those tangy bottled ones with the pulp in it that made it feel like he was chugging down little insects in his drinks. Liam had somehow found out that small bit of fact about him and refused to let it go but for some reason he’d refrained from blurting it out to the rest of the pack, which Theo was really rather grateful for. 

Melissa stopped by a few hours ago and Theo had been surprisingly relieved to see her when she stepped in. Eventually Dr. Geyer left with her despite her insistence that his presence wasn’t needed on rotation. The doctor had been adamant that he needed to be out there doing something instead of there in the room worrying over Liam and not being able to do anything to help him.

So it was just him and Scott in the room with Liam for the last couple of hours, weighed down by silence. The situation wasn’t so much awkward as it was stilted. He could smell the guilt and worry radiating off of Scott even from the distance and it didn’t definitely didn’t ease up once he moved closer; taking a seat at the foot of the bed, just watching Liam as he continued sleeping, completely lost to the world.

“I didn’t get to thank you,” said Scott suddenly, “Properly I mean, for what you did. For everything you did.”

Theo shrugged. “You don’t have to.”

“Maybe not, but I want to. We wouldn’t have been able to save Liam if it wasn’t for you. We wouldn’t even have been able to find him if you hadn’t been there – and before you go there, because I know you will – it’s still not your fault he was taken. Just… take the thanks, Theo, because you deserve it.”

Theo shook his head, a small half smile tugging at his lips. “You’re just like your mom, you know that?”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” said Scott with a wide smile which Theo reciprocated.

“Because it is,” he said seriously.

The silence resumed for a beat as they both turned to look at Liam again.

It was a strange situation still being there with Scott, someone who’d been his friend in childhood and also someone he’d betrayed in the worst possible way, but being able to put aside their differences and their antagonism for this… this kid that had blown into Theo’s world and turned it completely on its head. It was strange how quickly Liam had assimilated himself into Theo’s life; how easily he’d carved himself into a huge part of Theo’s heart – a heart that wasn’t even his and one he never really knew how to use. Perhaps in a way, it was Tara’s way of showing him that he really wasn’t beyond love. That he’d just… gotten a bit lost somewhere along the way.

“Theo.”

Theo snapped out of his thoughts at Scott’s call, looking up to find Scott’s eyes on him, like he’d been staring at him for a while without him even realizing.

“Yeah?”

Scott seemed like he was having an intense internal debate; his eyes almost penetrating where they were trained unblinking on Theo, until he finally exhaled and tore his eyes away, as if making finally up his mind about something. “I’ve have a lot of time to think over the last few hours. After everything we’ve been through, after what happened with Monroe and those hunters; after what happened to Liam, and… and I guess what I’m trying to say…” he took a deep breath, finally looking away from Liam and turning back to Theo again, “If you really want it – if… it’s it something you still want… I’ll give it to you.”

Theo had to wrack his brain trying to decipher what Scott was saying, he had a feeling deep down that he knew what he meant, but the stress over the last couple of days and the lack of sleep and really, the combination of everything that’s happened to him over the last month, it was seriously messing up his ability to think rationally.

“I don’t know what you –” he said, shaking his head confusedly until Scott interrupted him before he could finish.

“ _The bite_ ,” Scott said adamantly. “I’ll give you the bite if you want it. I’ll make you a real werewolf – _if_ that’s what you really want.”

Theo felt his breath hitch inside his chest when Scott finished.

 _If that’s what you really want._ Was it what he really wanted? That was a good question. It was weird because not too long ago he would have killed for the opportunity – he did kill for the opportunity. For the opportunity to become a real werewolf; for the opportunity to be a true member of Scott’s pack; for the opportunity to truly belong somewhere.

And here was Scott offering him the bite so readily and so easily.

If he did become Scott’s beta; if he did accept the bite given by Scott, a True Alpha… if he killed Scott then, being his legitimate beta, he’d be able to achieve what he’d set out to do when he decided to return to Beacon Hills in the first place. He could finally become a real alpha. He could finally steal Scott’s powers as he’d planned to do for so long. It would be like a dream come true. He could be a real werewolf, and he could be with Liam, both betas to Scott. Between the two of them; betas of a True Alpha, they could build the strongest pack the world would have ever seen.

But right then Theo looked at Scott, seeing the sincerity in his eyes and the earnestness in his offer, then at Liam, watching the way his chest rose and fell with every hiss of the ventilator – his mind recalling the feel of Liam’s lips on his and his arms around him, holding him close and comforting him where he had no one in his life that had ever done so. He thought of Melissa and how she’d taken him in and cared for him and shown him a mother’s love as he’d never felt it before. He thought of Malia and Mason and Corey and Dr. Deaton and Stiles and the sheriff and everyone that for some reason opened up their arms to him and in their own way, accepted him and shown him kindness and friendship and _love_.

He thought of all of them; their faces flashing through his mind and stayed there staring at him when he finally opened his mouth and said; “I… appreciate the offer, Scott… but I don’t want it.”

Scott looked about as surprised by his answer as he felt hearing himself say the words aloud.

“Are you sure?” Scott asked. Theo could already see the confusion on his face chipping away to reveal something closer to pride and he tried to stop the blush already threatening to creep out onto his own cheeks.

“Maybe if you’d asked me this question a few days ago – maybe even a few hours ago, I would have jumped at the chance. We both remember the reason why I came back to Beacon Hills,” he said solemnly. However the expression of Scott’s face didn’t change at all. “I think I finally get it, or maybe I finally accepted it. Being a chimera was… it was something I felt ashamed about – I was neither here nor there. Not a human but not really a werewolf either; just a monster created from hate and lies and betrayal, who would never really belong anywhere. The last few weeks being with Liam and with you and your mom and being in the pack, I realized that maybe… maybe it’s not all bad not being one thing or another – being a chimera.

“The reason I managed to even become a chimera was because of Tara’s heart. The heart that still beating inside my chest and the last true connection I have to her and if I took your offer, if I became a real werewolf, then it would severe the final link I have to her and she deserves better than that. I can’t change what happened, but I can change who I am and what I do from here on out,” said Theo. “So… I’m sorry but I decline.”

Scott looked thoughtful, almost like he was absorbing every word Theo was saying. Theo forced himself not to look away, to not be the first one to break eye contact, but after a pause, Scott smiled; a wide one that showed teeth and was just so genuine that Theo felt a tingle of relief in the pit of his own stomach at the sight. Almost like relief that he hadn’t disappointed Scott, or maybe even gladness that somehow he’d made him proud.

“You don’t have to be sorry at all, Theo,” said Scott. “Maybe a small part of me really wanted to hear that answer because… well, I’m a werewolf, I never wanted to be one but I am one and I try to be the best of my kind that I can. You’re a chimera, maybe the way the Dread Doctors went about doing it was wrong, but you’re here now and you’ve proved to everyone that you deserve to be here and be in this pack just as much as any of them. Being a chimera might come with its own downsides and taboos, but I believe that it isn’t the kind of power you have or even how you obtained it, it what you choose to do with it that defines who you are and you, Theo, you just proved that you’re a true friend, a loyal pack member and most importantly, a good person, and I’m proud to have you as part of the pack and I know Liam is too.”

Theo could literally not find the words to speak after Scott finished; opening and closing his mouth like a fish on dry land. He could feel the tell-tale prickling of tears in his eyes and forced himself to look away, willing the tears not to come and the emotions to stay away. He appreciated Scott not saying anything after that and averting his gaze to look back Liam. Theo took it as his cue to do the same, coming to an unspoken agreement that nothing else needed to be said on the subject, at least not at that moment. Theo knew the issue would probably be addressed again sometime in the future, maybe with Liam around to give his input, for as far as Scott and Theo were concerned, the topic was done.

Scott had offered something Theo had always dreamed of, something he’d done unthinkable things to achieve, and Theo had gotten to the point in his life where he realized that he never really needed it after all. To quote the favoured superhero phrase: he’d always had it in him after all. However it wasn’t exactly the case either. Theo had taken a life to get to where he was, and worse still: his own flesh and blood. But Scott and Liam and Melissa and everyone in the pack had made him realize that he couldn’t change what he’d done, only what he would do from there on out and he was intent on doing just that.

“Scott,” he called out finally, without turning to look at him, instead reaching out to grasp Liam’s hand, “Thanks.”

He didn’t see Scott’s face but he could feel the smile radiating off him like a furnace. “You’re welcome,” he said.

They said nothing more after that.

Theo kept his eyes on Liam the whole time, his thumb massaging circles on the back of Liam’s knuckles; looking at his face and his skin so pale almost to the point of being translucent. Liam had always been fair, fairer than most of the girls in school; almost as fair as Theo which was saying a lot since Theo spent most of his teenage life in the Dread Doctor’s underground lab away from the sun. But as he was looking at his face; how dark his eyelashes were against his skin, Theo really just realized how handsome Liam really was and all of a sudden he was struck by how much he missed looking into his eyes and hearing his voice – even hearing the sound of him nagging him about something that was most likely beyond his control.

He was so caught up in his thoughts and everything he wished would happen that he almost misses the way Liam’s eyelashes fluttered. It was so brief that if Scott hadn’t been there to notice it Theo probably would have continued on being oblivious.

“Liam?” Scott called, getting to his feet tentatively, leaning over Liam slightly.

Theo snapped out of his reverie, mirroring Scott’s actions without letting go of Liam’s hand. “What happened?”

Scott glanced up at him, his expression one of cautious hopefulness. “I saw his eyelashes flutter.”

Both immediately bent down closer, calling Liam’s name gently; Scott reaching over to placed his bandaged hand on Liam’s shoulder and they both just watched; the sound of the clock on the wall outside the ICU ticking by almost mockingly.

There was a tense stillness in the room for a long moment, neither Scott not Theo even daring to breathe, almost fearful that it’ll scare Liam back into the safety of his own mind.

And then Liam’s eyes finally opened.

**Tbc.**


	21. Eye See You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, let me start off by apologizing for the obscenely late update. I got stuck in a rut and got distracted by so many different shiny things. This chapter isn't that long because I'm still trying to get back in the groove, but I hope it's enjoyable enough to tide you over :)
> 
> We're in the final stretch now so I promise the rest of the updates will not take this long.

Liam opening his eyes that first time since he was rescued was the beginning of everything, but not really.

Scott and Theo had been ecstatic when his eyelashes fluttered and he opened his eyes to look them when it happened. But the moment had barely lasted, Theo was only halfway out the door to call Dr. Geyer and Melissa before Liam slipped away again; his eyes closing and the small signs of his starting to struggle against the ventilator stopped and the machine resumed fully breathing for him once again.

That was two days ago and Theo was getting antsy.

Pacing the small ICU room for two days had not brought him even a fraction of comfort, only holding Liam’s hand, feeling the thrumming of his heartbeat through their intertwined hands and knowing that he was still there managed to calm his slowly unravelling nerves. Theo might not have been a true werewolf, but he was still a wild animal at heart, and the wolf inside him was desperate to get out into the open air and just run. Running was something he always did well; running from his problems and his fears, running from the people he betrayed and the people he let down, running from the truth and from himself, but he vowed to change and he was doing just that by staying put and staying by Liam’s side where he needed to be.

Dr. Geyer seemed to have grown used to his and Scott’s constant presence, the latter refusing to leave no matter how much Melissa asked. Other members of the pack had dropped one by one over the course of the couple of days to see Liam, check on his progress and let Scott and Theo in on what was happening outside the hospital walls. Despite his personal feelings about depending on others to watch his back, Theo took comfort in the fact that there was a constant presence outside the hospital keeping eyes out for stragglers still looking to cause trouble. Even Satomi herself had made a personal visit. Theo didn’t know her personally, only from what he’d read in the Dread Doctor’s files, but just based on Scott’s reaction to her presence, Theo could tell that she wasn’t a force to be reckoned with. So Theo hung back when she was there, intentionally keeping his attention on something else when her words were spoken as a whisper close to Scott’s ear. Theo had a distinct impression that Satomi and her pack weren’t there just for Scott and Liam but he opted not to pry.

It was late that afternoon when there was a distinct change in the air. At first it was barely noticeable, but then the scent hit him like a brick to the face almost causing him to topple back in his seat. His reaction caught the attention of both Melissa and Dr. Geyer who were in the room with them but his eyes immediately turned to Scott who was staring at his still bandaged hands with a strange look on his face.

“Theo, what is it?” asked Melissa but Theo couldn’t find the words to answer, instead he nodded towards Scott. “Scott?” Melissa turned her attention to Scott, approaching him tentatively, her eyes wide with worry.

All three of them just watched as Scott reached down to unravel the white gauze covering the burns on his hands, working slowly and carefully, almost fearfully like he was afraid that what he was feeling – the same thing Theo had smelled in the air – wasn’t real.

But once the last bit of gauze had been peeled off, still yellow from the medicine Melissa had applied and speckled with crusted dried blood, Scott’s hands came away completely healed, without even a trace that any kind of trauma had ever been inflicted onto them.

Dr. Geyer visibly gasped but Melissa couldn’t hold back her tears. Her hands flew to her mouth as her tear filled eyes found Scott’s own look of disbelief and she leaped forward to embrace him; Scott returning the embrace equally as enthusiastic.

“Are your powers back?” Theo asked, approaching the bed slowly and waiting patiently as Scott and Melissa finished their tearful hug.

“I… I think so,” said Scott, looking over his hands back and front once Melissa stepped back.

“May I?” asked Dr. Geyer, his eyes staring unblinking at Scott’s hands, reaching out as if seeking permission to look over them with his own two eyes. Scott nodded, reaching his hand across the bed, allowing Dr. Geyer to take his hand in his and look the smooth, unblemished skin that had just hours before been a burned mess and sloughing off muscle and bone. “This – this… this is _impossible_ ,” he said, finally tearing his eyes away from Scott’s hand to stare him in the eyes.

“It not,” Scott said adamantly. “It _is_ possible, and Liam will heal too.”

Dr. Geyer eventually relinquished his hold on Scott’s hand, looking down at his son before reaching over to pull down the blanket half covering Liam to his chest. He lifted up the hospital down revealing the thick bandage covering Liam’s entire chest and torso from the surgery to fix the injury caused by the knife and the bullet that had embedded itself in his lung.

“Todd,” said Melissa, reaching over to cover his hands with hers. “Liam _will_ heal the way Scott did, but he was with Monroe a lot longer, and we don’t know what exactly she did to him, so… maybe it might take a little longer for him.”

Dr. Geyer swallowed carefully, schooling his emotions. “I know… I just… I just need to see.”

Melissa paused for a beat, not letting go of his hand before she eventually nodded and relinquished her hold, reaching over to help him peel back the bandage covering the stitches on Liam’s abdomen.

Theo held his breath as they worked, watching closely and sensing Scott reacting the same way. He was still concerned about Liam and everything Monroe did to him. Scott, Malia and Isaac had only inhaled an airborne version of whatever it was Monroe made, but they had no way to know for sure that Liam had gone through the same thing. They didn’t know for certain that his werewolf abilities would return the way Scott’s had or if he would even heal from his injuries, the only thing they had was hope and Theo was latching onto it tight with both hands.

Once the bandage was off, still red from the blood that had seeped out from the wound but thankfully with no sign of infection, Theo took Dr. Geyer’s gasp of disbelief as a good sign, leaning across to see what it was that had taken him aback that way.

The skin around the stiches on Liam’s stomach had knitted together and now resembled a wound that was at least a few weeks old instead of just a few days. Theo couldn’t hold back his relieved smile as he exhaled, dropping his head between his hands and allowing himself the hope he’d been trying to keep at bay for what seemed like forever.

He could feel Scott’s own relief rolling off him and what sounded like a sob. He didn’t have to look to know how Scott was reacting to the sight but he felt the same way deep down.

“See,” said Melissa and Theo could hear the sound of Dr. Geyer’s soft sobs. He decided to turn his back, leaning against the foot of Liam’s bed and allow the man the privacy to express his own emotions. He had Melissa there to comfort him and Theo knew from experience that he was in good hands.

\--

By the third day, Theo was convinced that Liam was intentionally being insufferable by still remaining unconscious. His lungs had healed enough to be taken off the ventilator and almost immediately he looked a hundred times better. However his eyes remained closed, his breathing remained shallow and he still wasn’t reacting to the presence of the people around him the way he should.

Theo was getting antsy, and annoyed, slightly more on the latter which was a sign that things were maybe finally headed in a good direction. It was way overdue after the week they all had.

It was just Theo in the room for the first time. Dr. Geyer was off doing his rounds, something he made himself do instead of just sitting around moping. Apparently Mrs. Geyer was off vising her mother and Dr. Geyer had decided (with some encouragement by Melissa and Scott) to spare her the worry since Liam was finally working Monroe’s poison out of his system and was finally on the road to recover. No use having her worried out of her mind over something that was no longer life threatening. Plus he needed time to wrap his mind around the whole ‘his son in a teenage werewolf’ issue before he was in any position to explain it to the very maternal and very dangerous mother of his son.

Theo was by himself, draped over the seat by Liam’s bedside, head tilted back painfully over the hard backrest of the plastic seat but Theo welcomed the comforting and familiar feeling. It made him focus on the stiffness of his back and the pained throbbing of his neck instead of… well, everything else. He was definitely going to need a good long vacation after this.

His eyes were closed, his arm lying on the side of the mattress by Liam’s own – the very picture of serenity, when he first heard the groan. He ignored it at first, after all it was a hospital, inhuman sounds were not exactly anything out of the ordinary in that place and Theo had become accustomed to pretty much all the sounds and smells of the hospital over the last couple of days.

But then Liam’s arm moved, weakly and heavy, like he was lifting up limbs that were made of lead. It flopped back down onto the mattress almost immediately.

Theo leapt to his feet and was by Liam’s side instantly, placing a hand on his shoulder and calling his name softly.

A few seconds passed. Theo didn’t rush Liam, he just started massaging the joint of his shoulder with his thumb comfortingly, trying to let him know that he was there.

When Liam finally opened his eyes, Theo felt his heart immediately jump into his throat which he swallowed back down with difficulty.

“Liam?” he called again. His other hand reaching over to grasp onto Liam’s tightly. “Hey, you with us?”

It took Liam an additional few seconds before his eyes finally focused, first on the ceiling, his pupils visibly expanding and contracting as Theo watched. Eventually his gaze shifted to meet Theo’s and Theo couldn’t stop the relieved smile from spreading across his face.

“ _Th’o…?_ ” said Liam. His voice hoarse and pained, barely above a whisper but it was the most beautiful sound Theo had ever heard.

“Christ, Liam,” said Theo, relief radiating off him as he let his head hang, arms propped up on the side of the bed.

“ _Wh’ happened…?_ ” Liam asked, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings.

“You don’t remember?”

Liam swallowed painfully, and shifted himself slightly. Even that small amount of effort left him winded and pained, Theo could see it on his face. He shook his head in a negative after seemingly wracking his brain trying to remember.

“What’s the last thing you do remember?” asked Theo.

Liam blinked a few times before he opened his mouth. “Tomatoes,” he said.

This time Theo was the one left wracking his brain trying to recall the significance of that memory. When it finally came to him, he did something he hadn’t done in what seemed like weeks.

He laughed.

Liam was left confused and Theo felt bad for causing him to feel that way but he couldn’t stop the laughter from escaping. “I’m sorry,” he eventually managed to get out, scrubbing at his face with the palm of his hands, “Oh man, Liam, so many things happened since then but… I think I need to let Scott and your dad know that you’re awake. They should be the ones to explain.”

Liam looked like he had a thousand and one questions on his mind but none that he could properly verbalize and the frustration was clear on his face.

Theo took a moment just to look at Liam and without a word, bent down to plant a quick kiss on his lips. “I missed you,” he said.

Liam couldn’t speak to undoubtedly stutter out a response but the pink tinge on his cheeks was response enough for Theo.

He spared Liam a small smile and rushed out into the hallway to get a nurse to let Dr. Geyer, Melissa and Scott know that Liam was awake. Then it was just a matter of waiting for them to arrive.

In the meantime, he reached across the mattress to grab Liam’s hand, their fingers intertwining together and stayed that way until the flurried sound of footsteps reached Theo’s ears before a panting Dr. Geyer appeared at the door. Only then did he release his hold on Liam’s hand and take a step back, making room for the doctor to rush to his son’s side and scoop him up in a tight embrace.

His eyes lingered on Liam as he stepped backwards out the door until he was finally out of sight, leaving Dr. Geyer to his much deserved privacy with his son.

He found the first plastic chair down the hall and took seat and just waited.

He’d waited days to see Liam’s eyes again and to hear his voice. He waited years to have someone who cared about him and who he cared about in return. He’d waited a lifetime to have a family he was proud to call his own.

He could stand to wait a couple more hours.

**Tbc.**

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr @[reivenesque](http://reivenesque.tumblr.com/) and comments are more than appreciated ❤️


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